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Head of Christ 

(From a Painting by Paul de la Uoche.) 



OUR KING AND SAVIOUR; 


OB, 


C Utorn of our port’s liife on Curtjj. 


IN WHICH ITS GREAT EVENTS ARE ARRANGED IN THEIR PROBABLE 
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, AND SO SET FORTH AS TO MAKE 
THEIR REALITY AND MEANING CLEAR TO THE 
UNDERSTANDINGS AND ATTRACTIVE TO THE 
IMAGINATIONS AND HEARTS OF 


YOUNG PERSONS AND GENERAL READERS. 

By DANIEL WISE, D.D. 


In form a man, in dignity a God.” 

- 4 . 

“ And every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Phil, ii, 11. 


WITH EIGHTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS. 



NEW YORK: 


KELSON & PHILLIPS. 


CINCINNATI: HITCHCOCK & WALDEN. 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL DEPARTMENT. 


313 °' 

w/i 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by 
NELSON & PHILLIPS , 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



1 1 13 33 


PREFATORY NOTE. 


S HIS Life of the Lord Jesu3 is not intended 
for critics and biblical scholars, but for senior 
Sunday scholars, Sunday teachers, and general 
readers. Its events are given in the order adopt- 
ed by Dr. Strong in his very excellent “ Harmony 
and Exposition of the Gospels.” In its prepara- 
tion the writer consulted and compared such au- 
thorities as Neander, Lange, Pressense, Olshausen, 
Kitto, Trench, Andrews, Hanna, Ellicott, Renan, 
Thomson, etc. He availed himself of their crit- 
icisms as far as was needful to assist him in form- 
ing an independent judgment on disputed points 
of the Gospel histories. The results of these ex- 
aminations are given in these pages, but not the 
reasonings by which they were reached. The style 
adopted is simple without being juvenile, and is suffi- 
ciently expository to make the sacred story appear 
clear and connected. Should it contribute in any 


6 


Prefatory jSote. 


degree to the strengthening of its readers’ belief in 
the absolute reality of the supernatural incidents re- 
corded in the holy Gospels, and in the perfect hu- 
manity and supreme divinity of Jesus, the aim of the 
writer will be attained, and his highest ambition 
gratified. 


Englewood, N. J., 1875. 


CONTENTS. 


Pagb 

1 The Birthnight op the Lord Jesus 15 

2. Why the Babe was named Jesus 24 

3. Inspired Witnesses Attest the Dignity of Jesus 25 

4. The Strange Star and the Magi 29 

5. The Cjsild’s Life Supernaturally Sayed 32 

6. The Beautiful Home of our Lord’s Childhood 36 

7. The Divine Boy Astonishes a Group of Rabbins . 41 

8. Eighteen Years Hidden by an Impenetrable Vail 47 

9. An Uncouth but Extraordinary Herald Appears 48 

10. Jesus Proclaimed to be the Son of God 52 

11. Jesus Tempted by the Devil in the Desert 56 

12. Christ Calls his First Disciples 61 

13. Our Lord’s Miracle at a Marriage Festival... 68 

14. Scenes at our Lord’s First Passover 73 

15. The Noble-minded Nicodemus 79 

16. Jesus in the Valley of the Jordan . 81 

17. Herod Antipas Imprisons the Baptist 83 

18. Jesus Journeys through Samaria 85 

19. Christ’s Word in Cana Cures a Boy in Capernaum... 96 

20. Jesus Threatened with Death at Nazareth 99 

21. Capernaum and the Lake of Galilee 102 

22. Jesus Works a Mighty Miracle on the Lake 105 

23. A Demon Obeys the Command of Jesus 110 

24. Peter’s Mother-in-law Cured of a Fever 1 1*2 

25. A Glad Day in Capernaum 113 

26. A Three Months’ Tour in Galilee 115 

27. The Leper’s Faith and Healing 118 

28. Strange Things in Capernaum 121 

29. A Tax-gatherer Called to be an Apostle 127 

30. A Cripple Healed at the Pool of Bethesda 129 

31. Dispute with tiie Pharisees in a Field of Barley.. .. 134 

32. Cure of a Man with a Crippled Hand . . 135 


8 


Contents. 


Page 

33. The Apostolic College Organized 137 

34. Christ’s Sermon on the Mount 141 

35. Jesus Heals a Military Officer’s Servant 143 

36. Christ Brings a Dead Youth to Life 145 

37. The Baptizer’s Message to Jesus 147 

38. Penitent Woman and a Captious Pharisee 151 

39. Christ’s Second Tour of Galilee 155 

40. A Demoniac Healed and the Pharisees Rebuked 156 

41. A Sharp Dispute with Pharisees 160 

42. A Candidate for Discipleship Repelled 163 

43. Jesus Subdues a Tempest on the Lake 165 

44. The Demoniacs of Gergesa 168 

45. Matthew’s Banquet in Honor of his Master 172 

46. A Woman Cured of a Chronic Disease 174 

47. A Dead Maiden Restored to Life 176 

48. Two Blind Men Receive the Gift of Sight 179 

49. A Dumb Demon Cast Out 181 

50. Jesus Visits Nazareth for the Last Time 182 

51. Christ’s Third Tour in Galilee 184 

52. The Death of John the Baptist 185 

53. Jesus Feeds Five Thousand Persons 190 

54. Jesus Walks on the Water 197 

55. A March of Mercy through Gennesaretii 200 

56. The People Forsake Jesus 201 

57. Fidelity of the Apostolic Twelve 204 

58. Jesus Exposes the Folly and Falsehood of Pharisaism. 205 

59. Christ does a most Marvelous Deed 208 

60. Our Lord in Partial Retirement 210 

61. A Deaf and Partially Dumb Man Healed 211 

62. A Miraculous Feast to a Vast Multitude 213 

63. Our Lord Rebukes his Enemies 215 

64. Sight Given to a Blind Man 216 

65. Peter’s Confession of Faith 217 

66. Peter Rebuked by his Lord 219 

67. Christ Transfigured on Mount Hermon 221 

68. A Dumb and Deaf Demon Cast Out 225 

69. Tribute Money Found in the Fish’s Mouth 229, 

70. Christ’s Diminished Popularity in Capernaum 232 

71. Christ Prepares to Leave Galilee 234 

72. On the Road to Jerusalem 237 

73. Jerusalem in its Festal Dress . . 240 


Contents. 


9 


Page 

74. Noble Bearing of Jesus before his Enemies 245 

75. Jesus Pardons an Adulteress 249 

76. The Pharisees Attempt to Stone Jesus 251 

77 Return of the Seventy Disciples 253 

78. Jesus and his Friends at Bethany 254 

79. Jesus Cures a Man who was Born Blind 257 

80. At the Feast of the Dedication 260 

81. A Few Weeks at Bethabara 261 

82. The Resurrection of Lazarus 261 

83. Jesus in Retirement at Ephraim 269 

84. Cure of a Deformed Woman in Perea 269 

85. A Man with the Dropsy Healed 272 

86. Jesus sets out for Jerusalem 274 

87. Zaccheus, the Genuine Penitent 276 

88. Christ’s last Sabbath before his Death 278 

89. A Festal Scene at the House of Simon 279 

90. Great Excitement in Jerusalem 281 

91. The Festal March of Jesus into Jerusalem 281 

92. A Fig-tree Withered by the Curse of Jesus ?85 

93. A Day. of Successful Disputations 287 

94. Last Words of Jesus in the Temple 297 

95. Fall of Jerusalem and End of the World 299 

96. Judas Bargains to Betray his Master 301 

97. Directions Concerning the Paschal Supper 304 

98. The Foot-w ashing before Supper 305 

99. Jesus Unmasks his Intended Betrayer 309 

100. Peter’s Cowardice Foretold by Jesus 311 

101. Jesus Institutes the Sacramental Supper 312 

102. The Midnight Agony in Gethsemane 313 

103. The Betrayal and the Arrest 316 

104. Peter Denies his Afflicted Lord 318 

105. Jesus Condemned by the Sanhedrin 320 

106. Jesus at Pilate’s Bar 327 

107. The Fearful End of Judas 335 

108 Scenes at the Crucifixion of Jesus 336 

109. Our Lord’s Burial 343 

110. Jesus Risen from the Dead 347 

111. Jesus Seen by Several Women 349 

112. Jesus Seen by Mary of Magdala 353 

113. Jesus Walks to Emmaus with Two Disciples 355 

114. Jesus Seen by Ten of the Apostles 356 


10 


Contents. 


Pagb 

115. Thomas and the Other Apostles See Jesus 358 

116. Jesus Takes Breakfast with Seven Apostles 360 

117. Jesus Meets Five Hundred of his Disciples 362 

118. Jesus Ascends into Heaven 365 


J I lit S t X K t X 0 U % . 


[Those marked thus.* are full-page illustrations.] 

Head of Christ.* (From a painting by Paul de La Roche.) 2 

Map of Palestine* 14 

An Oriental Caravaxsera 16 

Sheep-fold 17 

Fields near Bethlehem 18 

The Shepherds and the Angels... 19 

Bethlehem 20 

The Shepherds Adoring Jesus* 22 

The Strange Star and the Magi* 28 

The Flight into Egypt* 33 

Nazareth* 38 

Oriental Caravan 43 

Christ among the Doctors* 45 

Baptism of Jesus* 54 

Sandal 61 

John Pointing to Jesus. 63 

Fountain at Cana 69 

Water-pots of Stone 71 

Christ in the Temple-market 74 

West End of Solomon’s Temple 76 

Christ Instructs Nicodemus* 78 

Jesus and Woman of Samaria* 88 

Jesus at the Well of Jacob 90 

Jacob’s Well as seen from the East* 94 

Sea of Galilee* 103 

Miracle of the Fishes 107 


Illustrations. 


11 


Page 

Christ Healing the Sick 114 

Christ Preaching on the Hill-side 117 

Jesus Healing a Leper 119 

Roof of Oriental House* 123 

The Call of Matthew. 127 

Disciples Plucking Barley on the Sabbath 134 

The Call of the Twelve Apostles 138 

The Sermon on the Mount 141 

John’s Messengers to Jesus 149 

Oriental Dining Party 151 

Woman Washing Christ’s Feet with Tears 152 

Power to Forgive Sin 156 

Oriental Handwashing 161 

Fear of the Disciples 167 

The Daughter of Jairus 178 

Martyrdom of the Baptist. 187 

The Head of the Baptist Given to the Queen 188 

Gathering the Fragments* 194 

The Barley Loaves Multiplied 195 

Gathering the Fragments 196 

Peter on the Sea 199 

Jesus Correcting Popular Errors 203 

Syro-Phenician Woman 209 

Christ Healing a Deaf and Dumb Man. 211 

Giving Sight to a Blind Man. 212 

Feeding the Multitude 214 

Sightless Eyes Opened 216 

Transfiguration of Christ 221 

Young Demoniac brought to Jesus 227 

Jesus and the Children 233 

Jesus in Prayer 234 

Healing the- Leper 239 

Feast of Tabernacles* 241 

Pharisee and his Phylactery. 244 

Martha Calling Mary* 265 

Bartimeus Receiving Sight 275 

Zaccheus in the Sycamore-tree 276 

Map of Yalley of the Jordan 278 

Mary Anointing Jesus 279 

Christ’s Royal March into Jerusalem 282 

Fruitless Fig-tree 2S6 


12 


Illustrations. 


Pagb 

Christ Disputing- 291 

The Widow’s Mites 294 

The Widow’s Greatest Gift* 295 

Foot-washing* 307 

The Last Supper 310 

The Betrayal 317 

Peter in the Palace Court 319 

The Great Sanhedrin* 322 

The High-priest Rending his Clothes 324 

Mocking Jesus* 326 

The Crucifixion 337 

Burial of Jesus* 345 

Women at the Sepulcher 348 

Resurrection of Christ* 351 

Mount Tabor* 363 

Ascension of Jesus 365 
















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OUR KING 




I. 


THE BIRTHNIGHT OF THE LORD JESUS. 

“ Out in the night, so calm and still, 

Their song was heard ; 

For they knew that the child on Bethlehem’s hill 
Was Christ the Lord.” 


[B. C. 6.] 

^NaTEARLY nineteen hundred years* ago a babe 
ly was ushered into the world, in the little east- 
ern city of Bethlehem, under circumstances such as 
never surrounded the birth of a child either before or 
since. Its mother was a lady of princely lineage, but 
her arrival in the city of her great ancestor, the royal 
David, at a time when the inn or caravansera was 
crowded with visitors, had compelled her to find lodg- 
ings in its stable. Here she gave birth to her first- 
born son. And here, for want of a more befitting 
cradle, she laid him on the platform, or manger, which 
had held the provender of many a traveler’s beast. f 

* The precise date of Christ’s birth is unknown. Dr. Strong, in his 
“Harmony,” places it about August 1, B. C. 6. We follow his chro- 
nology, which is based on the Roman consular chronology compared 
with certain astronomical facts and the dates of Jewish festivals. See 
Strong’s “ Harmony,” Appendix I, pp. 7-24. 

f A caravansera, or oriental inn, is a square stone structure. Its outer 
walls have no windows, nothing but an arched gateway. Within, 


Our King. 


1 fi 


The new-born babe and a slumbering people. 

There was no stir in that quiet city on the night of 
this wonderful birth. While the lady mother pressed 
the new-born babe to her breast, thrilled with the 
thought that she held the founder of an everlasting 
kingdom in her arms, the people of Bethlehem slept, 
unconscious that the grandest event of the world’s 

there is a large open area with a well in the center. On every side 
of this area is a platform three or four feet high. Back of this plat- 



AN ORIENTAL CAR AV AN SERA. 


form are little doors opening into small unfurnished chambers, or lodg- 
ing rooms. Between the rear of these chambers and the outer wall 
is a covered passage, which is entered at the corners of the quadrangle. 
This, is the stable. Its floor is on the same level as that of the open 
area ; and, as the platform on which the chambers are built projects 
into this covered way, it serves as a resting-place or manger for the 
nose-bags from which the animals feed. In bad weather it serves as 
a retreat for servants and teamsters. "When a caravansera is crowded, 
travelers are often glad to lodge on these projecting platforms, as Mary 
did when she found every chamber of the caravansera at Bethlehem 
preoccupied at the time of her arrival. 


The Birthnight of the Lord Jesus. 


IT 


A grand night scene. 

history had that night occurred within their ancient 
walls. No deputations from its officers and noble 
families hastened to congratulate the mother, or to 
pay their respects to the royal infant. On the con- 
trary, his birth-chamber had but scant attendance, 
and its accommodations were scarcely equal to those 
of a peasant’s cot. 

But only a mile or two distant, on one of those 
lovely meadows through which this infant’s royal an- 
cestor, David, had often led his flock of sheep, a grand 



SHEEP-FOLD. 


scene was being displayed. There, in the soft still- 
ness of an oriental night, a band of wandering shep- 
herds * sat watching their sheep. It is not unlikely 

* Had these shepherds belonged to Bethlehem they would have 
folded their flocks near the city, in a fold such as you see in the illus- 
tration. They must, therefore, have come from a distance seeking 
pasturage in the dry season. 


18 


Our King. 


The shepherds see an angel. 

that they talked of the time when David’s promised 
Son should be born in his father’s ancient city. It 



FIELDS NEAR BKTIILKIIEM. 


was a period of great expectation. Thousands of 
pious Jews, and many thoughtful Gentiles, animated 
by the Spirit which had once fired Isaiah’s heart, were 
looking intently for the appearance of the “ King of 
the Jews,” the restorer of Israel, the predestined 
conqueror of the world. Probably those shepherds 
shared the general hope and longing, and talked won- 
deringly of how and when the much desired event 
would occur. Suddenly, a dazzling light, “ the glory 
of the Lord,” broke upon the gloom of night, reveal- 
ing the resplendent form of the “ angel of the Lord.” 
The astonished shepherds looked on this glorious be- 
ing with speechless fear. Then the voice of the angel 
fell like soothing music on their ears, hushing their 


The Birthnight of the Lord Jesus . 


19 


The angelic song. 

fears and commanding their attention, while he 
said : — 

“ Fear not : for, 
behold, I bring you 
good tidings of great 
joy, which shall be 
to all people. For 
unto you is born this 
day, in the city of 
David, a Saviour, 
which is Christ the 
Lord.” 

The angel further 
said, that they might 
find this royal babe, 

“wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a man- 
ger;” and then a multitude of angelic choristers 
burst upon the shepherds’ vision, singing, in rap- 
turous strains, this new, sweet song of love and 
mercy : — 

“ Glory to God in the highest, 

Peace on earth, good-will toward men.” 

The shepherds were simple-hearted men. They 
could not doubt the reality of the wonderful sights 
and sounds they had just seen and heard. To them, 
doubtless, it seemed fitting, that the birth of the child 
who was to show forth the love of heaven’s King, 



20 


Our King. 


The shepherds find the infant Jesus. 

should be heralded by heaven’s choir. Neither did 
they question the truth of the angel’s words ; but, as 
soon as the last strains of the heavenly song had died 
away, they, said to one another : — 



BETHLEHEM. 


“Let us go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing 
which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made 
known to us.” 

And then leaving their flocks beneath the olive and 
fig trees, as the gray dawn appeared in the East, they 
traversed the hilly road toward Bethlehem, ascended 
the long, bold, vine-clad hill on which it stands, and, 
in the stable (“or the place of untying of beasts” as 
the original word signifies) of the caravansera, found 
the babe, as the angel had described him. 















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V 






The Shepherds Adoring Jesus. 






The Birthnight of the Lord Jesus. 


23 


A credential of the Son of God. 

You may imagine the adoring rapture with which 
they kneeled before this infant, so humbly placed, but 
so royally heralded. With burning words they told 
their hitherto unheard-of story to the happy, but 
silent and thoughtful mother. And then, going out 
into the narrow streets, they no doubt repeated it to 
every one they met, causing more wonder than con- 
viction in their astonished listeners. But satisfied 
that they had seen the long-expected Messiah, they 
soon hastened back to the care of their flocks, making 
the hills echo their glad songs, as ages before they 
had echoed the voice of the poet king, whose Heir 
and Lord they had just seen in the person of Mary’s 
babe. 

Did such a marvelous combination of such humble- 
ness with such grandeur ever mark the birthhour of 
any other child but that of the infant Jesus? Never, 
never! Behold, then, in that peerless blending of 
earthly lowliness with heavenly grandeur, one of the 

credentials of the Son of God ! 

2 


24 


Our King. 


The sweetest of names. 


II. 

WHY THE BABE WAS NAMED JESUS. 

t CCORDING to the laws of the country this 
babe was circumcised when eight days old. At 
that time, as was the custom, he received his name. 
Ordinary children are usually named by their parents ; 
so this babe was called Jesus by a divine command 
given through an angel’s lips, first to Mary, and after- 
ward to Joseph, his reputed father. This sweet name 
signifies Saviour. It was given him because he came 
to save “ his people,” not from the Roman yoke, as 
the Jews expected, but “ from their sins.” Other 
children had borne it, but he received it from the lips 
of the Infinite Father both as a recognition of his 
divine character and as a description of the merciful 
purpose for which he had come into the world. O 
blessed name ! Its utterance on the day of the child’s 
circumcision awakened no wonder, thrilled no hearts, 
except those of the silent Mary and the thoughtful 
Joseph ; but it has now become the most mighty name 
in the universe. It is feared in hell, adored in heaven ; 
while on earth it is ardently loved by millions of hu- 
man beings. 

“ Never was sung a sweeter word, 

Nor fuller music e’er was heard, 

Nor deeper aught the heart hath stirred, 

Than Jesus, Son of God.” — B ernard. 


Witnesses Attest the Dignity of Jesus. 


25 


The babe in Jerusalem. 


III. 

INSPIRED WITNESSES ATTEST THE DIGNITY OF JESUS. 

[September, B. C. 6.] 

jjlF^ORTY days after the birth of this princely child, 
another wonder shed its mysterious rays upon 
his young life. As required by Jewish law, Mary and 
Joseph carried him from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, six 
miles, to redeem him, as a first-born son, from the 
service of the priesthood, by the payment of five 
shekels, (about three dollars, see Num. xviii, 15, 16,) 
and also to offer a sacrifice of two turtle-doves or 
young pigeons for the purification of the mother. 
This journey was made without princely pomp, or 
other outward sign of the infant’s dignity, but hum- 
bly, on foot or on mules, as became people not abso- 
lutely poor, but whose greatest wealth was the faith 
and hope which swelled their hearts when they 
thought of their wonderful child. When they en- 
tered the temple unheralded, and unnoted by officiat- 
ing priests, an extraordinary circumstance occurred. 
A venerable patriarch, who, being deeply versed in 
ancient prophecy, was looking earnestly for the com- 
ing of the long-promised Star of Jacob, came also into 
the sacred place. The moment he saw Mary’s babe, 
the divine Spirit whispered within him, 

“ This is the Lord’s Christ ! ” 

Then, with holy gladness written on every feature, 


26 


Our King. 


A patriarch’s swan-like lay. 

he took the unconscious infant from wondering Mary’s 
arms, and uttered words of blessing and of prophecy. 
The latter foretold the glorious work which the infant 
was to do, the enmity which he would encounter, and 
the sorrow which his sufferings would bring to his 
mother’s soul. This aged man showed that he had a 
better understanding of the Kingdom Jesus was to 
found, than the apostles gained afterward by three 
years’ companionship with their Master. Who can 
explain this fact, except by admitting that Simeon 
was inspired by Heaven to attest tbre grandeur and 
greatness of this humbly appearing, but really divine 
infant? .Doubtless this was the reason why this old 
man came — 

“ In festal grave-clothes to chant his swan-like lay.” 

Scarcely had Simeon restored Jesus to his mother’s 
arms, before an aged widow, upon whose bent shoul- 
ders the burdens of more than fourscore summers 
rested, came, and under a like inspiration, joined in 
Simeon’s song of joy. She was another witness to 
the divine character of the child Jesus. 

The temple ceremonies ended, the sacred babe was 
carried back to Bethlehem by his happy mother and 
her husband. It seems likely that Joseph, finding 
work at his trade of carpentry, and thinking, perhaps, 
that the city of David was the proper home for this 












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■ £8 

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f 


V 




Witnesses Attest the Dignity of Jesus. 


29 


Persian sages discover an unknown star. 

infant prince of that royal house, had taken up his 
abode in it. Here he remained for several months, 
probably ; and here he would have continued, but for 
another of those marvels which distinguished the in- 
fancy of Jesus. 


IV. 

THE STRANGE STAR AND THE MAGI. 

“A star shines forth in heaven suddenly — 

A wondrous orb, less than the sun, yet greater; 

Less in its outward light, but greater in 
Its inward glory, pointing to a mystery. 

That morning-star sent forth its beams afar 
Into the land of those who had no light; • 

Led them as blind men, by a way they knew not, 
Until they came and saw the Light of men, 

Offered their gifts, received Eternal life, 

Worshiped — and went their way.” — Ephraem Strtts. 


IB. C. 5.] 

f HIS new marvel was nothing less than the visit of 
a deputation of Magi, or wise men, probably in 
July, from the distant empire of Persia. These sages 
were astronomers and astrologers. The stars of heaven 
were their constant study. While watching their 
nightly movements in the glorious sky they had dis- 
covered an unusual luminous body, brilliant as a star, 
yet not a real star, but a supernatural body placed in 
the heavens to arrest their attention. It is more than 
probable that these men had knowledge of the coming 
of a mighty monarch in Judea, treasured in their 


30 


Our King. 


A sensation in Jerusalem. 

books since the days in which Daniel, the prophet, 
outshone their ancestry in wisdom at the Persian 
Court. This strange light, therefore, became to them 
the star of the expected “King of the Jews.” Being 
zealous searchers after all knowledge, and moved 
withal by an impulse from Heaven, they left their 
homes and followed the movements of this strange 
light through many lands, until it led them to Jeru- 
salem, where it seems to have disappeared. Here 
they made known the object of their tedious journey. 
To their astonishment no one knew any thing about 
it. Neither the angelic visit to Bethlehem, nor the 
prophecies of Simeon and Anna, had arrested public 
attention. But their presence, 

“ Robed in the stole of Tyrian dye,” 

their gorgeous retinue, and especially their question 
about the birth of a king of the Jews, produced a great 
sensation in Jerusalem. Herod, the bloodthirsty king, 
was alarmed lest his throne should be endangered by an 
insurrection. The Jewish authorities and people were 
thrilled with the hope, that possibly their long-desired 
Messiah was about to make his advent. The king sum- 
moned the Sanhedrin. That grave and reverend body 
determined, that, according to one of their prophets 
who had spoken seven hundred years before, Bethlehem 
was to be Messiah’s birthplace. With cunning in his 


The Strange Star and the Magi. 


31 


The Magi do homage to Jesus. 

heart, and smooth words upon his lips, Herod, after re- 
ceiving this information, sent the Magi to the little city 
indicated by prophecy, exacting from them a promise 
to return and tell him the result of their visit. In 
his heart the ruthless monarch resolved to kill the 
babe if the wise men found him. 

The Magi resumed their journey. The “star,” 
hidden for a time, now reappeared. With joy they 
followed it through the valley of Gihon, across the 
plain of Rephaim, to the steep hill on which Bethle- 
hem was built. The star probably guided them to 
the humble house in which Joseph and Mary now 
lodged. It was to them the supernatural witness to 
the royalty of the infant “in whom lay vailed the 
mighty King.” Without hesitation they fell at his 
feet and did him homage. Then, they presented him 
with gifts — “ gold? and frankincense, and myrrh.” 

It was their intention to return to Jerusalem agree- 
ably with the request of Herod. But the same mys- 
terious power which had led them from Persia to 
Bethlehem, warned them by a vision to return by 
another route to their native land. 

This tribute from heathen men to the divine char- 
acter of the infant Jesus was another unmistakable 
sign of his heavenly origin. Like the other marvels 
of his birth, it distinguished him from every other babe 
born of a woman. 


32 


Our King. 


The babe’s escape. 


The King in a rage. 


V. 

THE CHILD’S LIFE SUPERNATURALLY SAVED. 

[B. C. S.] 

OTHER vision now informed Joseph that the 
unscrupulous Herod would seek the life, of the 
holy babe, and bade him arise and depart quickly 
with the child and his mother into Egypt. Without 
hesitation, the good man shook off his slumbers at 
once, aroused Mary, made hasty preparations, and 
before dawn was on his way to Egypt. Four or five 
days’ travel, through the vine-clad hills of Judea to 
Hebron, thence to Beersheba, and on, across the 
sandy desert in w T hich their ancestors had once wan- 
dered forty years, took the holy family to the border 
of Egypt. There, in some city, the name of which is 
unknown, containing Jewish settlers, Joseph took 
lodgings, and living partly on the gifts of the Magi, 
and partly on his earnings as a carpenter, he patiently 
waited the further directions of Heaven respecting the 
wonderful infant committed to his care. Meanwhile, 
Herod, finding that the Magi did not return, became 
furiously angry. They had treated him with contempt, 
and the infant, whose birth had been foretold by 
prophets, and proclaimed by a mysterious star, was 
likely to escape his cruel hands, already stained with 
the blood of his wife and two of his sons. Deter 


The Flight into Egypt. 












The Child's Life Supernaturally Saved. 35 


Slaughtered Innocents. Their murderer’s death. 

mined not to be balked in his purpose to kill this 
dreaded infant, he sent a band of pitiless assassins to 
Bethlehem with orders to put every babe to death 
of “ two years old and under.” It was an atrocious 
order. But his assassins were steeled to pity. Ho 
cry of despairing mother, no look of innocence, or 
prattling voice from unsuspecting babe, could stay 
the stroke of their murderous swords. Passing 
swiftly and mysteriously from house to house in and 
around the doomed little city they soon accomplished 
their bloody work. Then they departed, leaving, 
probably, from two to threescore sweet little innocents 
dead upon the heaving breasts of as many agonized 
mothers. 

Doubtless, the crowned monster chuckled over his 
imaginary success when the hired murderers made 
their report. He felt that his throne was more secure, 
for had he not slain the infant “ King of the Jews?” 
But He who had safely hidden his Son across the 
Egyptian border laughed at his diabolical rejoicing, 
and a few months after sent him a summons he could 
not resist. Racked with the pains of an incurable 
disease, tormented by a conscience stained with crimes 
of blackest dye, and maddened with his knowledge 
that the people would rejoice over his death as a price- 
less blessing, he died just after ordering the execution 
of his third son, and went to the dark abode of the 


36 


Our King. 


The return to Palestine. 

guilty dead, to receive the just punishment of his 
many crimes.* * 

The knowledge of his death was communicated to 
Joseph, not by an ordinary human messenger, but by 
one of those celestial beings which had heralded the 
birth of Jesus to the shepherds. This angelic visitor 
said to Joseph : — 

“ Herod, who sought the young child’s life, is dead. 
Return into the land of Israel ! ” 


VI. 


THE BEAUTIFUL HOME OF OUR LORD'S CHILDHOOD. 

[April, B. C. 4.] 

prompt obedience Joseph and Mary 
AoT quickly started on their return journey 
through the desert to Palestine. On reaching the 
borders of Judea, Joseph hearing, no doubt, that 
Herod’s successor in that province, Archelans, had 
signalized the commencement of his reign by killing 
three thousand Jews during a tumult, hesitated with 
respect to the safety of taking the Holy Child within 


* This Herod, misnamed the Great, left three sons, Herod Arche- 
laus, who reigned for ten years in Judea; Herod Antipas, who be- 
came tetrarch of Galilee and Perea; and Herod Philip, tetrarch of 
Batanea, Gaulonitis, etc. It was Herod Antipas who murdered John 
the Baptist, and to whom Pilate sent Jesus on his trial. See Kitto. 









# 


























, 


















































* 





















- • 









» 





























i 


% 











Beautiful Home of our Lord's Childhood. 39 


Beautiful Nazareth. 

the sphere of his jurisdiction. Another heavenly 
vision confirmed his fears, and guided him to the 
retired village of Nazareth, in Galilee, as the most 
fitting place in which to rear the “vailed King” 
committed to his care. 

There is infinite wisdom in every plan of our heav- 
enly Father. Short-sighted mortals cannot always 
discover it. Sometimes they can dimly discern it. 
In his choice of Nazareth for the home of his “only 
begotten Son,” during his childhood and youth, this 
wisdom is, in some things, very distinctly seen. Its 
obscurity and out-of-the-way position w r ere such, that 
Jesus could live there undisturbed by the jealousy of 
kings and rulers, or the hatred of priests, until the 
proper time arrived for the opening of his public min- 
istry. The quiet beauty of the village and its sur- 
roundings were also eminently favorable to such a 
life of meditation and pious thought as we suppose 
Jesus lived. It lay “in a fold of land broadly open 
at the summit of the group of mountains which closed 
on the north the plain of Esdraelon.” Its houses 
were built of stone, without beauty in themselves, but 
made pleasant by the vines and fig-trees which grew 
around them. It contained a fountain from which, 
no doubt, the youthful Jesus often drank. Its envi- 
rons were “charming, and no place in the world was 
so well adapted to dreams of perfect happiness.” 


An enchanting landscape. 


They have, indeed, been compared to “paradise.” 
By ascending to the plateau above the village, which 
was swept by a perpetual breeze, Jesus, looking to the 
west, could see “ the beautiful lines of Carmel, termi- 
nating in an abrupt point which seems to plunge into 
the sea.” Turning southward, he saw “the mount- 
ains of Shechem, with their holy places of the 
patriarchal age, and the mountains of Gilboa.” 
Eastward was “ Tabor, with its finely rounded 
form which antiquity compared to a breast.” Be- 
yond, he had fine views of “the Talley of the Jor- 
dan, and the high plains of Perea, which form a 
continuous line in the east.” To the north were the 
mountains of Safed, and beyond them the distant 
slope of Hermon. “ This enchanting circle, the cradle 
of the kingdom of God,” was the world in which the 
youthful Jesus unfolded his twofold character ; now 
standing, perchance, beside the bench of Joseph, and 
then sitting on the mountain’s brow in wrapt com- 
munion with the divine nature which was slowly 
unfolding itself within him, fitting his young human 
soul to comprehend and perform the glorious mission 
which he had come into the world to execute. 


A Group of It abb ins Astonished 


41 


The boyhood life of Jesus. 


VII. 

THE DIVINE BOY ASTONISHES A GROUP OF RABBINS. 

[A. D. 8.] 



HERE is a blank in the story of Israel’s young 


Prince from the period of his return from Egypt 
until he was twelve years old. All we know is, that 
he spent the years of his boyhood in the lovely up- 
land vale just described. No supernatural signs dis- 
tinguished him from other boys. He was noted only 
for the strength of his growing mind, for the wisdom 
of his judgment, and the piety of his spirit. We may 
imagine, as many curious minds have done, how lie 
played, talked, studied, rambled, and mused. But all 
such imaginings are vain. It pleased him to hide 
this portion of his life behind a vail. Why should 
we attempt to penetrate it ? 

This vail is lifted but once during his boyhood, and 
then only long enough to afford us a glimpse of a sin- 
gle event. “ His twelfth year,” says Lange, u sheds 
the only ray which penetrates this darkness, a ray 
shining, on the one side, as far as the birth of Jesus, 
and on the other, as his baptism in Jordan.” This 
event was a journey of over threescore miles with his 
parents to the great feast of the passover at Jerusalem, 
in the month of April. It must have been an occa- 
sion of much interest to his thoughtful mind. It was 


42 


Our King. 


Jesus goes to Jerusalem. 

probably bis first opportunity of beholding the rug- 
ged, beautiful, and varied scenery of bis native land ; 
and that, too, in the season when nature wore her 
greenest garments. The fields waved with growing 
wheat. The vines were redolent of sweetness. Crim- 
son tulips, yellow daffodils, scarlet poppies, and sweet- 
scented lilies, made the meadows brilliant with rich 
colors, and the air fragrant with delicious odors. 
Every highway was crowded with joyous pilgrims 
from all parts of the land ‘‘going up,” singing as 
they went, to Jerusalem, the city which was “ beau- 
tiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth,” to cele- 
brate the deliverance of their ancestors from the iron 
yoke of the Egyptians fifteen hundred years before. 

Thirteen was the usual age for initiating boys into 
the duties of full membership in the Jewish Church. 
That Jesus was initiated at twelve, is evidence of his 
reputation for precocious wisdom and superior piety. 
That his parents’ opinion of his high qualities was not 
founded in blind fondness, but in his actual superi- 
ority, was proven shortly after the close of the pass- 
over festivities. 

It appears that when the caravan of pilgrims was or- 
ganized for its return, Jesus was supposed by his par- 
ents to be with the boys of the party, who, according to 
custom, formed a separate band. It was usual, as it is 
to this day, for caravans to move only about six miles 


A Group of Rabbins Astonished. 


43 


.Jesus missing from the caravan of pilgrims. 

on the day of departure. This gave opportunity to 
the pilgrims to ascertain if any thing had been left 



ORIENTAL CARAVAN. 


behind, while they were yet near enough to the city 
to remedy their neglect. When, therefore, Mary 
sought her mysterious son at the first halting-place, 
she found that he was not with the caravan. Filled 
with maternal anxiety, she and Joseph retraced their 
steps to Jerusalem the next morning. Failing to dis- 
cover him that day among their friends in the city, 
they went into the temple the day after. There, in 
one of its arcades, to their relief and surprise, they 


44 


Our King. 


The Rabbins' 1 surprise. Mary’s perplexity. 

found their marvelous boy sitting in the midst of a 
circle of Rabbins, asking and answering questions with 
a wisdom so novel, and yet so profound, that it filled 
every one with utter astonishment. What was this 
wisdom but the dawning ray of that divine nature 
which was mysteriously united to his human spirit! 

Mary’s motherly impulses overcame her respect for 
the venerable gray-bearded Rabbins, who were gazing 
with wonder on her beloved boy, and she broke in 
upon the charmed circle abruptly, saying to her son : — 
“ Behold, we have been seeking thee with sorrow- 
ing hearts. Why didst thou not follow us?” 

You may imagine the look of conscious innocence, 
and the quiet dignity, far beyond his years, of this 
divine boy as he replied : — 

“Why did you distress yourself on my account, 
mother? Did you not think that it was quite natural 
for me to prefer tarrying awhile in my heavenly 
Father’s house, to returning to my earthly home?” 

Mary did not fully understand her child’s meaning. 
She scarcely comprehended that, during his stay in 
the temple, his young human mind had probably be- 
gun to perceive its mysterious relation to the divine 
nature which was within him. Nevertheless, she 
treasured up his strange words as he walked humbly 
by her side, and returned with her to obscure, but 
beautiful Nazareth. 


4 






Eighteen Years Hidden by a Vail. 


47 


The studies and occupation of Jesus. 


VIII. 

EIGHTEEN YEARS HIDDEN BY AN IMPENETRABLE 
VAIL. 

GAIN the vail is dropped. All we know of 
the next eighteen years of our Lord’s wonder- 
ful life is, that he lived as an obedient and loving son 
with his parents in their humble home, that he con- 
tinued to increase in wisdom and in piety, and that 
he was highly esteemed by all who knew him. He 
probably never entered the schools of the Rabbins, for 
his wisdom was not of men. That he spent much of 
his time in the study of the Scriptures is made certain 
by his subsequent familiarity with them. That he 
wrought at his reputed father’s trade is highly proba- 
ble, since his labor was, most likely, needful for his 
maintenance, especially after Joseph’s death, which oc- 
curred, as is supposed, some years before Jesus began 
his public ministry. There was nothing degrading in 
this occupation. Jewish customs required that youths 
intended for intellectual pursuits should learn a trade, 
and the most learned doctors of those far-off times 
were sandal-makers, blacksmiths, carpenters, and tent- 
makers. When he became a man he was, doubtless, 
regarded as a person of uncommon wisdom and pu- 
rity. His childhood had been unblemished by a single 


48 


Our King. 


Appearance of a remarkable man. 

fault; liis youth and early manhood had been unspot- 
ted. But among the humble dwellers in that secluded 
village, no one, save his thoughtful mother and the 
true-hearted Joseph, imagined that this lowly form 
was the vail which hid from the common gaze the 
splendor of the “ well-beloved ” Son of God. And so 
long had the manifestation of his divine nature been 
delayed, that even they may have begun to question 
whether they had not niistaken the purport of the 
wondrous signs which had distinguished his birth and 
infancy. Of the signs themselves they could have 
no doubt. Concerning their meaning, it is more than 
probable they were greatly perplexed. 


IX. 

AN UNCOUTH BUT EXTRAORDINARY HERALD APPEARS. 

[A. D. 85.] 

w|)UT when Jesus was about thirty years of age a 
remarkable, man named, John suddenly ap- 
peared in the wild, desert country which lies along 
the western shore of the Dead Sea, called “the 
Wilderness of Judea.-’ * The history, the manners, 

* Stanley says of this wilderness : “ The idea is that of a wide, open 
space, with or without actual pasture ; the country of the nomads, as 
distinguished from that of the agricultural and settled people.” Its 
present aspect is thus described by Tristram : “ For three hours we 


An Extraordinary Herald Appears. 


49 


John, the hermit of the Judean desert. 

the habits, the dress, the food, the voice, and the words 
of this stranger, were all extraordinary. An angelic 
messenger had announced his birth to a venerable 
couple, so advanced in years that the father, doubting 
the possibility of such an event, had requested a sign 
of the angel’s credibility. This unbelieving request 
was granted, but in a mode which was a severe re- 
buke to his unbelief. He was stricken dumb by a 
divine act, to the surprise of many witnesses. Another 
miracle restored his speech at the time of the infant’s 
circumcision and naming. This child grew up an 
ascetic.. The desert became his abode. His dress 
was coarse cloth woven from the hair of the camel. 
His food was composed of locusts, and of honey taken 
from the wild bees’ comb.f His manner was austere. 

wound down the valleys — if valleys they can be called ; depressions 
of winter torrents, which rake the sides of innumerable round- 
topped hills, crowded one behind another — of the wilderness of Ju- 
dea. A true wilderness it is, but no desert, with the sides of the 
limestone ranges clad with no shrubs larger than a sage or thyme — 
brown and bare on the southern and western faces, where the late 
rains had not yet restored the life burnt out by the summer’s sun, but 
with a slight carpeting of tender green already springing up on their 
northern sides. Not a human habitation, not a sign of life, meets the 
eye for twenty miles, and yet there seems no reason why, as for pas- 
turage, at least, the country might be largely available. But there 
are no traces of the terraces which furrow the hills of the rest of 
Palestine ; and one small herd of long-eared black goats were all we 
saw till we reached the plains of Jericho.” 

f Thomson, in “The Land and the Book,” says: “Locusts are not 
eaten in Syria by any but the Bedouin on the extreme frontiers, and 


50 


Our King. 


Wonderful excitement caused by John’s preaching. 

His voice was stern and commanding. His words 
were warnings. His sermons were simple bnt start- 
ling, and they fell with mysterious power .upon the 
crowds which flocked from the towns in and around 
the valley of the lower Jordan, from Hebron. Jeru- 
salem, and other cities, to hear him. The most stout- 
hearted, from the humblest citizen to the proudest 
Pharisee, were profoundly impressed. Even mailed 
soldiers, familiar with scenes of battle and bloodshed, 
were terrified into professions of repentance. Thou- 
sands upon thousands of people swelled the audiences 
of this preacher in the wilderness, made the desert 
echo their penitential cries, and permitted John to 
sprinkle them with the water of the Jordan at Betli- 
abara, while they confessed their sins. 

This singular preacher solemnly declared that the 
sole purpose of his preaching was to prepare the way 
for a coming personage far greater than himself. He 

are always spoken of as a very inferior article of food, and regarded 
by most with disgust and loathing — tolerated only by the very poorest 
people. John the Baptist, however, was of this class, either from 
necessity or election. He also dwelt in the desert, where such food 
was and still is used, and, therefore, the text states the simple truth. 
His ordinary ‘meat’ was dried locusts; probably fried in butter and 
mixed with honey, as is still frequently done. This honey, too, was 
the article made by bees, and not dibs from grapes, nor dates from the 
palm, nor anything else which ingenious commentators have invented. 
Wild honey is still gathered in large quantities from trees in the wil- 
derness, and from rocks in the wadies, just where the Baptist so- 
journed, and where he came preaching the baptism of repentance.” 


An Extraw'dinary Herald Appears. 


51 


John declares himself the herald of Jesus. 

was, he said, only the “ voice of one crying in the 
wilderness” — a herald announcing the coining of the 
Lord. His baptism, or sprinkling with water, was 
only a sign of a higher baptism with tire and the 
Holy Ghost by the coming One. To do this work he 
had been super naturally born, reared with ascetic 
strictness, and sent out under a divine impulse. The 
strange power which attended his utterances was 
Heaven’s attestation to the divinity of Him whose 
speedy appearance he announced. Never had earthly 
monarch such a herald ; never before had human 
herald proclaimed the coming of such a Sovereign ! 

About four, or, as some think, six months of this 
rude preacher's labor sufficed to kindle vivid expecta- 
tion in many breasts. Spiritual Jews felt their hopes 
of Messiah’s advent revived, and sought most devoutly 
for fitness to receive him. The haughty Pharisees, 
who would accept nothing less than an empurpled 
monarch, armed with David’s conquering sword, for 
their Messiah, had turned away from John’s preaching 
with disgust as soon as they perceived that his pre- 
dicted Messiah was not to be the restorer of Israel’s 
temporal glory, but only a baptizer “ with fire and 
the Holy Ghost.” They were too earthly in their 
feelings and aspirations even to comprehend such a 
purely spiritual mission. Nevertheless, John’s ring- 
ing voice had been echoed from the wild Judean 


52 


Our King. 


Jesus at the scene of John’s ministry. 

desert even to the hills and lake of Galilee. The 
herald had done his work, and only waited the 
appearance of his Lord as the signal for his own 
approaching retirement into obscurity. 


X. 

JESUS PROCLAIMED TO BE THE SON OF GOD. 

[A. D. 85.] 

vJjjjiESUS, knowing that the time for the commence- 
^5 ment of his public ministry had nearly arrived, 
now quitted the charming region in which his life had 
been spent. Alone, unnoticed, a meek, solitary man 
in outward aspect, our prince-born Master journeyed, 
probably on foot, through Samaria to the banks of 
the Jordan opposite Jericho. There he presented 
himself to the stern preacher of the desert for bap- 
tism. His request disturbed John’s spirit. He knew 
the person of Jesus, no doubt, and must have known 
of the wonders which had surrounded his birth. He 
did not yet know, however, that he was the Messiah. 
Still his spirit was overawed, as by some mysterious 
power. When Jesus prayed, as Neander conjectures 
he did before being baptized, John’s awe became fear, 
and, as if trembling from a sense of his own unwor- 
thiness, he exclaimed : — 









I 



Baptism of Jesus 









Jesus Proclaimed to be the, Son of God. 55 


Jesus baptized. A superhuman voice. 

“ I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest 
thou to me ? ” 

Jesus, in no wise surprised by John’s timidity, reas- 
sures him by explaining that it was not as a sinner 
needing to repent and confess sin that he sought bap- 
tism, but because he desired to “ fulfill all righteous- 
ness.” He would set his divine seal upon John’s 
baptism by submitting to it, and also consecrate him- 
self to the prophetic and priestly work on which he 
was about to enter. Upon receiving this information, 
John led Jesus into the river and sprinkled his sacred 
head. Then occurred another of those preternatural 
displays which so frequently gave evidence to the 
divine character of our blessed Lord. 

As Jesus stood praying, on the outer bank of the 
stream, there came through a sudden opening in the 
sky a luminous cloud, “ a mysterious splendor, prob- 
ably a white, mild luster, like the flutter of a white 
dove on the wing of the sunbeams.” This ray of 
heavenly glory rested upon his head. At the same 
moment a voice was heard saying: — 

“ This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased.” 

This marvelous sign, which John had been previ- 
ously taught by the Holy Spirit to expect, convinced 
the great baptizer that Jesus was the Messiah whose 
coming he had been sent to announce. (See John i, 33.) 


50 


Our King. 


Jeaus in the desert. 


There was no room for mistake. Both he and the 
assembly around him saw the wondrous spectacle, and 
heard the heavenly voice. The Spirit of inspiration 
speaking to John’s soul confirmed the divine vision 
and voice. To him it was evident that the unpretend- 
ing; human form before him was the shrine in w’hich 
dwelt the u fullness of the Godhead.’’ The multitude, 
no doubt, were filled with a very great astonishment, 
but did not perceive the full import of this miraculous 
voucher to the divine character of Jesus. 


XL 


JESUS TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL IN THE DESERT. 


[A. D. 25.] 



F7ROM this scene of superhuman glory Jesus 


.^§5. passed into one of severe human trial. Moved 
by the Holy Ghost, he walked from the banks of the 
Jordan into the wildest part of a Judean desert, ly- 
ing, as is supposed, east of Jerusalem, some three miles 
north of the road to Jericho. In that lonely abode 
of savage beasts he gave hirfiself to meditation for 
the space of forty days upon the grand, but fearful 
work, for which he had come into the world. So pro- 
found were his thoughts during those sad weeks, that 


Tempted by the Devil in the Desert. 


57 


A mighty tempter assails Jesua. 

lie felt little or no need of food.* At last, the strain 
upon his rapt mind yielded to the demands of his 
body. The pangs of intense hunger seized him. 

That was the moment chosen by the Prince of fallen 
angels to tempt and worry his pure spirit. This arch- 
fiend approached him, in what form is not known, 
with three strong temptations, addressed, one to his 
animal appetite, another to his will, and still another 
to his mental desires. To his appetite, tormented 
with hunger-pains, the wily tempter said : — 

“ If you are what you think yourself to be — the 
Son of God — command that these stones be made 
bread ? ” 

Jesus, knowing that his miraculous power was not 
given him for purposes of self-gratification, replied, 
in substance : — 

“The word of my Father declares that he can sup- 
port human life on other than ordinary bread. (As 


* If this fast were unbroken, his life must have been supported by a 
miracle, as were the lives of Moses and Elijah, both of whom also 
fasted forty days. As Kitto remarks, “ It is beyond the powers of 
nature to endure such privations. There is no authenticated instance 
of any healthy person having remained for nearly so long a time with- 
out food — though what may be possible in certain diseased conditions 
of the bodily functions we are not prepared to say. The longest well- 
attested case of abstinence we have seen recorded is that of the 
fourteen men and one woman of the ship Juno, wrecked many years 
ago on the coast of Arracan, who lived twenty-throe days without a 
morsel of food.” 


58 


Our King. 


Jesus baffles his great tempter. 

lie did Israel in the wilderness.) I bide his way of 
satisfying my hunger.” 

Foiled in his first approach, the baffled but persist- 
ent tempter then presented to his mind the popular 
idea of Messiah as the destined occupant of David’s 
earthly throne, in contrast with Christ’s own purpose 
to found a purely spiritual kingdom. From this lat- 
ter view, symbolized as an ascent to the roof or pin- 
nacle of the Temple at Jerusalem,* he bids Jesus 
cast himself down, by adopting the more safe and 
prevailing notion of Messiah’s kingdom. No harm, 
lie insinuated, could come to him from doing so, be- 
cause his Father had promised angelic support to the 
Messiah under all circumstances. 

To this our Jesus, true to his perceptions of his 
Father’s will respecting the spiritual nature of the 
kingdom he was sent to found, rejoined : — 

“ True, my Father has promised me infallible sup- 
port; but he has also said that none must tempt Je- 
hovah by asking spiritual protection when rushing 
madly into danger, in conscious opposition to his 
will.” 

Baffled again, but not finally defeated, the cunning 
tempter made another assault. He spread before 

* This symbol was a very apt one, inasmuch as Christ regarded 
himself as the fulfillment or crowning antitype of the Mosaic or tem- 
ple system. 


Tempted by the Devil in the Desert. 


59 


Jesus victorious and fed by angels. 

our Lord’s imagination a magnificent picture of the 
glory he might win if he would seize David’s earthly 
throne, and make it the seat of a grand universal 
empire. To enforce this brilliant temptation he 
pledged his own personal support, provided only that 
Jesus would do him homage as a subject to his 
sovereign. 

In making this impudent proposal the tempter had 
thrown off his mask, and laid bare his bold desire to 
destroy the loyalty of Christ’s human soul to the di- 
vine nature mysteriously united with it. Then, with 
righteous indignation, Jesus rebuked his insulting 
adversary, saying, in the strong tones of insulted 
majesty : — 

“ Get thee hence, Satan 1 The Scriptures require 
homage to Jehovah, your God, alone.” 

Satan’s last arrow not only fell blunted and broken 
from the invulnerable shield of Scripture which Jesus 
presented to it, but he was himself pierced with the 
sword of a divine command which he had long 
despised. If Satan had doubted it at the first, he now 
knew that Jesus was the Lord from heaven. Yexed 
and wounded, he fled. Christ was victorious. And 
then, as if to atone for the suffering and indignity lie 
had endured in that dreary desert, angelic messengers 
approached him with humble reverence, and satisfied 
his hunger with heavenly food. They knew that the 


60 


Our King. 


Jesus retires to Galilee. 

King of* Glory was vailed beneath that wasted form, 
and they did him homage as they had often done be- 
fore he left his heavenly throne. The fact of their 
ministration and worship is susceptible of no other 
satisfactory explanation. 

When their loving ministry was ended, Jesus dis- 
missed them and departed toward Galilee, refreshed 
in body and mighty in spirit. He had been u tempted 
in all points like as we are,” that he might know how 
to pity and succor his disciples throughout the ages in 
their temptations.* lie had given them a precious 
example of successful resistance, showing them that 
his Father’s word is the invulnerable shield which 
cannot be pierced by Satan’s darts. He had shown 
that the human soul could be sorely tempted, “ yet 
without sin.” And then he bad quietly retired to the 
charming scenery of Galilee to further prepare him- 
self, by a season of repose and meditation, for the 
public manifestation of his glory. 

* All our temptations are addressed either to our animal appetites, 
to our wills, seeking to persuade us to be self -governed instead of 
yielding to the divine will, or to our mental desires for power, posi- 
tion, and riches. Every form of human temptation belongs to one or 
other of these categories. Therefore, because these three parts of 
Christ’s nature were solicited by Satan’s art, he is said to have been 
“ tempted in all points like as we are,” and not because he suffered 
every specific form of human temptation. 


61 


Christ Calls his First Disciples. 


The Baptist and the Rabbins. 


XII. 

CHRIST CALLS HIS FIRST DISCIPLES. 

[A. D. 86.1 

fKi 

pTTT is supposed that our Lord’s temptation took 
(sjs place in the month of October, A. I). 25, and 
that during the inclement season which followed, both 
John and Jesus remained in retirement. But early 
in the succeeding March John resumed his labors at 
Bethany, on the east of Jordan, when the Sanhedrin,* 
at Jerusalem, hearing of his proceedings, and being 
perplexed with respect to his character, sent a deputa- 
tion of priests and Levites, to ask him whether he 
were Christ, or Elias, or the prophet foretold by Moses. 

John frankly told them that he was neither, but only 
the herald of One who, though unrecognized, was actu- 
ally among them. So far above himself was the com- 
ing One, that he declared 
himself unworthy to per- 
form for him even the ser- 
vile office of untying the 
thongs of his sandals, f banda u 

* The Sanhedrin, composed of seventy rabbins, was the highest court 
of judicature among the Jews, especially in matters of religion. Its 
powers were greatly curtailed by the Romans at the time of our 
Lord’s life on earth. 

f The ancient Orientals did not wear the modern shoe, which covers 
the whole foot, but a sandal of leather, linen,- rush, or wood, which 



02 


Our King. 


John declares Jesus to be the Son of God. 

To this reply the proud, mystified Pharisees made 
no rejoinder, not knowing, indeed, what to say, but 
returned to Jerusalem to make their report. As 
John intimated, the Messiah was present that day, 
but he had forborne to point him out, being restrained, 
no doubt, by the Spirit of his Master. But the next 
day, as Jesus was approaching him, John, yielding to 
the heavenly influence which fell upon him, and gave 
him a deeper insight into the nature of the work 
the Messiah was to perform, pointed tow T ard Jesus, 
and exclaimed with ecstatic force : — 

“ Behold the Lamb of God, which taketli away the 
sin of the world ! ” 

Fie then proceeded to relate the marvelous events 
which had occurred at the baptism of Jesus, and de- 
clared unequivocally his conviction, based on the 
inward voice of the Spirit and the concurring phe- 
nomena at that baptismal scene, that Jesus was the 
“ Son of God.” 

What effect these emphatic words produced on the 
hearers generally we do not know. But we are told, 

covered the sole of the foot only, and was fastened with thongs, which 
were somewhat troublesome to unfasten. Hence a servant or slave 
was usually called to perform the task. For this reason the unloosing 
of another’s sandal was a symbol of servitude, except in the case of 
a scholar who did it for his rabbi, in obedience to a rule of the Tal- 
mud, which said, “All services which a slave renders to his master, 
the disciple renders to his rabbi.” 


Christ Calls his First Disciples. 


63 


Two inquirers follow J esus. 

that on the following day when Jesus appeared, and 
John again exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God!” 
two of the baptizer’s disciples, John and Andrew, 
followed the retreating person of our Lord. 

Awed alike by the 
solemn statements of 
their master, and by 
the thoughtful man- 
ner of Jesus, those 
eager but timid men 
dared not speak -the 
wish which swelled 
their beating hearts. 

Presently, however, 

Jesus, hearing the 
sound of footsteps, 
turned round, looked 
benignantly upon them, and asked, in kindly tones : — 

“Why do you follow me? Do you wish to ask me 
any questions? ” 

Too modest to offer themselves as his companions, 
they reply : — 

“ Rabbi, we are anxious to be instructed by you. 
Where do you dwell ? ” 

This humble request for permission to call upon 
him was met by a look of love, and an invitation to 
proceed at once to his abode. Tt was then four o’clock, 



64 


Our King. 


Christ’s wonderful insight into Peter’s character. 

and, charmed by his wonderful words, they sat and 
listened until evening. 

What Jesus said is not recorded, but we know that 
these men were completely won to his side by his 
loving wisdom, from the fact that no sooner had 
they left him, at dusk, than Andrew hastened with 
eager feet to find his brother Peter. As soon as he 
found him, he cried in the joyful tones of enthusiastic 
conviction : — 

“We have found the Messiah ! ” 

Peter, who, no doubt, had been led by the great 
baptizer’s ministry to expect the speedy realization 
of Israel’s hope, followed his brother with that prompt 
zeal which afterward distinguished him. Andrew led 
him at once to Jesus, who received him with loving 
dignity, saying, as he entered his lodging-room : — 

“Your name is Simon, the son of Jonas. Hence- 
forth your name shall be Cepha.” 

This declaration of Peter’s name and character was 
evidence that Jesus knew the name and quality of 
Peter by his own divine insight. Cepha signifies 
rock or stone, as does Peter also. In giving a by- 
name to this impulsive man, Jesus followed a practice 
common among Jewish rabbins. In Peter’s case, it 
was prophetic of his future work and place in Christ’s 
Church. “ Thou art Simon the son of Jonas, the 
Dove ; thou shalt be called Cepha, the Rock. For the 


Christ Calls his First Disciples. 


65 


An interesting day in Christ’s life. 

Hebrew, who knew the relation between the dove 
and the rock, in which the dove in Judea loved t<> 
build her nest, . . . these words contain a great contrast 
full of promise. Thou art now the son of the shy 
dove of the rock ; in future thou shalt be called the 
rock of the dove.” Viewing our Lord’s first words 
to Peter in the light of this beautiful interpretation 
by Lange, we learn that he could read Peter’s future 
labors in laying the foundation of his Church with 
the piercing glance of divine, and, therefore, unerring 
prescience. 

This day in the life of Christ is especially interest- 
ing to us, as being the one in which Jesus founded 
his Church. Andrew, John, and Peter won the peer- 
less honor of becoming its first members. They were 
not driven by the spur of fear, but drawn to him by his 
attractive power. Ho doubt they had very low views 
of the character and mission of him whose service they 
embraced, but they were sincere. What they had seen 
of Jesus on the day of his baptism convinced them 
that he was the promised Messiah; but concerning 
what Messiah was, and what he was to do, they held 
notions which were both crude and false. Neverthe- 
less, knowing that they were both sincere and teach- 
able, and that they looked upon him with admiration 
and respect, if not with affection, Jesus condescended 

to admit them to the dignity of discipleship, that he 
4 


66 


Our King. 


The wonder of the ages. Philip’s zeal. 

might train them to be the builders of an imperish- 
able Church, of which he himself was the precious 
foundation stone. That the mighty Christian Church 
should have been built up by the hands of such feeble 
men, is itself the wonder of all ages. It can only be 
accounted for by admitting that its Founder and 
Builder, Jesus, was “God manifest in the flesh.” 

The next day two more disciples were added to 
this honored little band. One of these was Philip, a 
friend of Andrew and Peter, and, like them, a fisher- 
man of the beautiful lake in Galilee. He, having 
heard the report of his friends concerning Jesus, be- 
came his adherent at once, when Jesus, with loving 
authority, said to him, “Follow me!” 

Philip showed both his zeal and the strength of 
his conviction by going at once in search of a friend 
named Nathanael. To him, with exultant feelings, 
he said: — 

“We have found that prophet foretold by Moses 
and the prophets. He is called Jesus of Nazareth.” 

This roused .the prejudices of Nathanael. Naza- 
reth, notwithstanding the beauty of its situation, was 
a place of low repute, and despised by the Jews gen- 
erally. Therefore, with much astonishment, he looked 
at Philip, and said : — 

“ Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ?” 

Philip was no disputant, nothing but a blunt, lion- 


Christ Calls his First Disciples. 


67 


The guileless Israelites. The divine man. 

est fisherman. Without attempting to combat his 
friend’s prejudice, he simply and sensibly replied : — 

“ Come with me and see ! ” 

Without further remonstrance Nathanael followed 
Philip. No sooner did he get within hearing than 
Jesus surprised him by exclaiming: — 

“ Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” 
Nathanael was perplexed, but gave quick utterance 
to his thoughts by asking Jesus how he could know 
any thing about him, seeing they were utter strangers 
to each other. Our Lord’s reply was a statement that 
he had seen him under the fig-tree before Philip had 
called him. Nathanael, who had probably been pray- 
ing in some quiet spot concealed from observation by 
a fig-tree, was instantly convinced that Jesus could 
have known of his devotions by superhuman knowl- 
edge only. He instantly felt that he was standing 
in the presence of a divine man. His prejudices fell 
from him, like a rotten garment, and with devout ear- 
nestness he cried : — 

“ Kabbi, thou art the Son of God ! ” 

And then, without further hesitation, Nathanael, 
generally believed to be the Bartholomew among the 
apostolic Twelve, resolved to follow the fortunes of 
the wonderful Being who, as the all-knowing One, 
had been the unseen witness of his secret prayers. 


68 


Our King. 


Jesus invited to a marriage festival. 


XIII. 

OUR LORD’S MIRACLE AT A MARRIAGE FESTIVAL. 

[A. D. 36.] 



vJ^ESUS now directed his steps toward his beloved 


$) Galilee. Whether the whole or only part of 
his little band of disciples accompanied him is uncer- 
tain. Two days’ travel through the country, now 
made charming to the eye by the brilliant flowers of 
spring, and to the ear by the songs of birds, brought 
him and his followers to Nazareth. Here, it appears, 
he received an invitation to attend a marriage festival 
at the thriving village of Cana, about seven miles 
distant in a northerly direction. His mother had 
already gone thither, and on the third day after his 
departure from the Jordan he and his disciples were 
among the wedding guests. 

Thus far in the life of our Lord we have seen his di- 
vine character attested chiefly by supernatural displays 
from heaven. Angelic messengers, prophetic visions, 
a mysterious star, voices from the Holy Spirit to 
Simeon, Anna, and John the Baptist, and the voice 
of the Father himself speaking from the cloven sky 
through a blaze of wondrous light, have been his wit- 
nesses. At Cana, for the first time, he does a deed 
by his own might which is of itself sufficient to prove 
that he possesses the creative power of God. 


Out Lord's Miracle at a Marriage Festival. 09 


A scarcity of festal wine. 

At this wedding festival, from causes unexplained, 
there is a scarcity of wine. Christ’s mother, who for 



FOUNTAIN AT CANA. 


reasons unknown to us is very active in managing the 
details of the feast, informs him of the fact, so full of 
mortification to the bride and bridegroom. Why she 
appeals to him does not appear. Perhaps she thinks 
that, since the scarcity of wine was produced, in part, 
at least, by the unanticipated addition of his disciples 
to the party, it is fitting that he should relieve it by 
the exercise of the wonder-working power she be- 
lieves him to possess. Perhaps she thinks he needs 
maternal urging to manifest his long-concealed Mes- 
sianic character. Whatever her motives are, they are 
certainly mixed with some alloy of error, for the reply 



70 


Our King. 


A wonderful transformation. 

of her illustrious Son, though kind and respectful, is a 
mild rebuke. He says : — 

“Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine 
hour is not yet come.” 

Mary would seem to understand that, although her 
mighty Son would not submit his miracle-working to 
her dictation, yet, for reasons of his own, he would 
condescend to supply the needed wine. Hence, turn- 
ing to the servants, she bids them do whatever Jesus 
may command. 

Jesus, seeing six stone water-pots, which might hold 
from eighteen to twenty four gallons each, bids the 
servants fill them with water. His wish is promptly 
obeyed. He makes no movement, does not touch 
the water with so much as one of his fingers. Yet in 
the silence of the moment which follows, his creative 
will suddenly transforms that water into fresh, spark- 
ling, exhilarating (not intoxicating) wine. So re- 
freshing is this pure, innoxious wine, that when the 
governor of the feast tastes it, its delicious sweetness 
surprises him. Calling hastily to the bridegroom, he 
exclaims : — 

u It is the rule at marriage festivals to offer the best 
wine first, but you have reserved your choicest wine 
until now.” 

The history of this remarkable wine is now buzzed 
from lip to lip round the festal hall. The guests be- 


Our Lord's Miracle at a Marriage Festival. 71 


Jesus in the glory of his first miracle. 

come aware that a notable miracle lias been wrought. 
Mary’s anointed Son becomes the cynosure of all eyes 
and the wonder of every heart. A glorious ray from 
his divine nature has flashed through the vail of his 
flesh. Thus standing before his new disciples, radiant 
with the glory of his first miracle, he confirms their 
new-born faith, and binds them to his person with a 
cord never to be broken. 



WATER-POTS OF STONE. 


Who can wonder that this mighty act won their 
faith so completely ? There was — there could be — 
no question about the deed itself. The servants knew 
that the vessels were jars into which nothing but 
water had been poured. They knew that Jesus had 
done nothing to the water, but by an invisible act of 
his own mind. They were witnesses J-hat no deeep- 


72 


Our King. 


Marriage sanctified. A symbolic miracle. 

tion had been practiced ; but that pure water had cer- 
tainly been changed into pure wine by the power of 
Jesus. That fruit of the vine called wine, which in 
the ordinary process of nature is only produced by 
the action of sunshine and moisture during many 
months, Jesus had created in an instant. Instead, 
therefore, of wondering that the disciples yielded their 
fullest confidence to Jesus, we are more inclined to 
cherish surprise that all the guests at that wedding 
festival did not also become his disciples. 

By his presence and first miracle at this wedding 
banquet Jesus sanctified marriage, and showed that 
the religion he came to teach was not cold, repulsive, 
and ascetic, but affectionate, genial, social, and de- 
signed to make the homes of his disciples bright with 
gentle courtesies and innocent festivities. Perhaps 
the miracle itself was symbolic of the blessed work 
he came to perform, namely, to transform human na- 
ture from its mean condition into the glory of a re- 
newed moral state, and to win it, by the lure of strong 
desire, from drinking water at the muddy cisterns 
of selfishness to feasting on that new wine of his 
kingdom which is to refresh all his disciples when 
they assemble, in the great hereafter, to celebrate his 
marriage with his bride, the Church. 


Scenes at Our Lord '’s First Passover. 


73 


Jesus in Jerusalem. 


XIV. 

SCENES AT OUR LORD’S FIRST PASSOVER. 

[A. I>. 26.] 

Cana our Lord proceeded to Capernaum, 
about twenty-five miles distant, accompanied 
by liis mother, his brethren, and his disciples. The 
occasion of this visit to the city which afterward be- 
came his place of abode is not known. Some think 
he went as one of the bridal party. Others suppose 
it was for the convenience of his disciples, whose 
homes were there. All we know, however, is the 
fact that he went thither, stayed a few days, and then 
proceeded to Jerusalem to attend the passover. 

Here, it. appears, he began to stand forth as a pub- 
lic teacher, and to confirm his claim to the attention 
and confidence of the people by working numerous 
miracles. One day on entering the outer, or Gentiles’ 
court of the temple, he noted the disregard shown to 
the sanctity of the place by the men who sold animals 
for sacrifice, and by the brokers who gave Jewish 
money in e*xchange for Greek and Homan coins. It 
was not their presence nor their business which of- 
fended him, for these were required to accommodate 
the crowds who flocked to the temple services, and 
needed both animals and coins for their sacrifices and 
offerings. But the spirit of these traders was greedy, 


74 


Our King. 


Stern rebuke of cattle-traders and coin-brokers. 

their manner was noisy, their dealings corrupt. In 
their greed of gain they had entirely lost sight of the 
sacredness of the spot on which they had built their 
stalls and booths. They had become so lost to relig- 
ious feeling that the place had become to them a mere 
mart of trade — a good place to make money in, and 
nothing more. Beholding this profanity of a build- 
ing originally devoted to the worship of his Father, 
Jesus became filled with righteous indignation. 
Grasping some of the rush ropes used for leading 
animals to slaughter, he made them into a whip, or 



scourge, and quickly drove the cattle ancl their own- 
ers out of the court. Seeing the money-changers 
hesitate to obey him, he upset their tables and said 
to the dealers in birds : — 

“ Take these things hence ! Make not my Father’s 
house a house of merchandise.” 


Scenes at Our Lord's First Passover. 75 

The spell of our Lord’s power. 

There must have been something awfully com- 
manding in the aspect and language of Jesus on this 
memorable occasion to effect such a result as the clos- 
ing of this temple-market. We may imagine the 
flashing of his eyes, the imperial tone of authority in 
his voice, and the majesty of his form, made august 
by the inspiration of his great soul. Moreover, it is 
likely that his divine power rested on the consciences 
of these guilty sons of mammon, and made them 
cower and tremble as in the presence of the Judge of 
the whole earth. 

The Pharisees, drawn to the spot by the unusual 
movement, were so far under the spell of his presence 
that they dared not question the propriety of his 
righteous act. But they had sufficient courage to de- 
mand some supernatural sign of his prophetic au- 
thority. In doing this they were acting in harmony 
with the popular belief, that the coming of Messiah 
would be made known by celestial signs. 

Jesus, who never put forth his miraculous power 
at the beck of unbelievers, laid his hand upon his 
breast, as we may readily suppose, and replied : — 

“ Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise 
it up.” 

This prophetic reply w r as an enigma they could not 
solve. They utterly mistook his meaning. They 
very naturally supposed that he meant the stately 


76 


Our King. 


A perplexing enigma. 

marble structure upon which Herod the Great had 
lavished vast wealth, and which, after forty-six years 
of toil, had been made a more magnificent building 
than the much-celebrated temple of Solomon. That 
this edifice, if destroyed, could be rebuilt in three 
days, was so manifestly impossible that they regarded 
the assertion with contempt, and turned away from 
Jesus with the sneer of men who think they have been 
listening to an enthusiast. They little imagined that 
they had heard a prediction which was to become one 
of the foundation stones of a faith which was des- 
tined to supersede the religion of Moses, and to give 
new life and hope to mankind. Yet such was the 
fact. Jesus had only foretold liis own death and res- 
urrection. Those conceited Pharisees denounced this 
saying as foolish and unmeaning. But a few years 
sufficed to show the folly of their proud judgment, 
and the prophetic wisdom of Him whom they affected 
to despise. 



WEST EM) OP SOI.OMuN'S TEMPLE ACCORDING TO PAINE. 






* 




























Christ Instructs Nicodemus. 



The Noble-minded Nicodemus . 


70 


An evening visitor. 


XV. 

THE NOBLE-MINDED NICODEMUS. 

(]T3)UT there was at least one man among those 
Pharisees who did not share their willful blind- 
ness. His name was Nicodemus, a member of the 
great Sanhedrin or council of seventy, which ruled 
over the Jews in subordination to the Homans, whose 
power was supreme. This venerable man was favor- 
ably impressed by the words and works of Jesus, and 
went to him at night, seeking further instruction re- 
specting his teaching and character. It is not neces- 
sary to charge the time chosen for this visit to this 
noble inquirer’s fears, as is often done. It was 
very common for Jewish doctors to meet their disci- 
ples and each other at night for the study of the law. 
Moreover, it is quite certain that during the day Jesus 
was constantly surrounded with crowds of curious 
listeners, so that such conversation as this good man 
desired was impracticable. Hence, when the great 
Teacher was in the quietude of his humble lodging, 
this serious-minded man sought his presence. With 
great frankness he admitted in his opening words the 
reality of the miracles wrought and the consequently 
prophetic character of Jesus. He was about to ask 
some question, when our gracious Lord interrupted 
him by saying, in the most solemn manner : — 


80 


Our King. 


Nicodemus startled by the words of Jesus. 

“ Except a man be born again he cannot see the 
kingdom of God.” 

This saying startled the learned Jew. He knew that 
a heathen in becoming a Jew needed to pass through a 
new birth ; so much so, that his previous life and rela- 
tions to society were blotted out, as it were, and he dat- 
ed his new existence from the day on which he became 
a proselyte. But why a Jew should be required to 
pass through a new birth in order to become a disci- 
ple of Christ, or how such a new birth was possible, 
he could not comprehend. He had no conception of 
that inward change by which the guilt of sin is taken 
from the conscience, the reign of sinful selfishness 
over the heart ended, and the rule of heavenly love 
begun. Jesus endeavored to make this seeming mys- 
tery plain. He told Nicodemus of the Holy Spirit 
by whom this mighty change is wrought ; of the love 
of God in giving his Son to die for human sin ; of the 
love of the Son in consenting to be lifted up on the 
cross ; of the faith in this beautiful, unequaled love, by 
which its blessed benefits must be gained ; and of the 
duty of obediently following the light which he had 
come to shed on benighted souls. 

' The fact that Jesus gave this inquiring doctor this 
precious instruction is proof that the Rabbi was both 
sincere and teachable. How much he was affected 
by it is not recorded. We know he did not at that 


The Noble-minded Nicodemus. 


81 


Jesus quits Jerusalem. 


time take his place openly among our Lord’s follow- 
ers ; neither did he wholly reject his claims, for he 
afterward spoke in defense of Jesus before the Sanhe- 
drin, and did honor to his body at his burial. Tradi- 
tion says he was baptized by Peter after the day of 
Pentecost, and exiled from Jerusalem by the exasper- 
ated Sanhedrin. No doubt he thought long and 
deeply on the blessed words spoken to him on that 
memorable night. They were worthy of his profound- 
est thoughts. The pith and marrow of the Gospel are 
in them. None of the many words spoken by our 
gracious Lord are richer in instruction than those 
addressed to Nicodemus. (See John iii, 1-21.) 


XVI. 

JESUS IN' THE VALLEY OF THE JORDAN. 

[A. D. 26.] 



S soon as the crowds drawn together by the 


great passover festival had quitted Jerusalem, 


Jesus also went out of the city into the valley of the 
Jordan. Here he spent the summer months, in the 
open country, with his disciples. The precise scene 
of his labors at this time is unknown. It is probable 
that he taught mostly near the ford or ferry of the 
Jordan near Jericho, which was crossed by travelers 


Our King. 


The great Baptist’s last testimony. 

to Perea and Arabia, and thereby dropped his pre- 
cious words into the ears and hearts of many who re- 
peated them in eager tones to their acquaintances in 
many places both within and without Judea. It is 
not unlikely that he diversified his labors by occasion- 
al visits to other places. 

We are sure his teaching attracted multitudes from 
the adjacent country, because his popularity awak- 
ened jealousy in the hearts of some of the admirers of 
the great Baptizer, who was also preaching at Enon, 
higher up the valley. These disciples endeavored to 
awaken similar feelings in the breast of their master. 
But the noble-minded John understood his relations 
to the divine Jesus too well to be envious of his suc- 
cess. He reminded his own zealous followers that he 
had always told them of his inferiority to Him whose 
herald he was ; that Jesus was above all other teach- 
ers ; that he had “ come from heaven that “ all 
things were given into his hand and that “ everlast- 
ing life” could only be attained through faith in him. 
(John iii, 25-36.) 

This decisive testimony to the divine character of 
Jesus was the last which the grand soul of John was 
permitted to give. His goal was reached. The 
bridegroom had come, and the groomsman’s task was 
finished. 


Ill rod Antipas Imprisons the Baptist. 83 


Two royal sinners. 


XVII. 


HEROD ANTIPAS IMPRISONS THE BAPTIST. 


fA. D. 8<M 



HE summer da} T s were over. The time for the 


coming of the “early rains” of November was 


near at hand, when a message from Herod Antipas, 
tetrarch or king of Galilee, led John to cross the river 
from Samaria into Perea. The object of Herod in 
sending for the plain-spoken baptizer was to obtain 
approval of his recent marriage with Herodias. 

To understand the reason why this bad monarch 
desired the Baptist’s sanction of an act already con- 
summated, it is necessary to consider the history of 
this adulterous affair. Herod had long been married 
to an Arabian princess, the daughter of A rotas, king 
of Arabia. But while on a visit to Borne, and while 
enjoying the hospitality of his half-brother Philip, he 
became desperately enamored of his hostess Herodias, 
the wife of Philip. This bad woman was half-sister 
both to her husband and to the king of Galilee ; that 
is, these three persons were all children of Herod the 
Great by different mothers. She ought not to have 
married either. But having sinned once in marrying 
her half-brother Philip, she was easily persuaded by 
her other half-brother, Antipas, to sin again by di- 
vorcing her first husband and marrying him. He, on 


5 


84 


Our King. 


A vexed king- and a furious queen. 

his part, agreed to divorce his Arabian wife as soon 
as he reached home. But this lady, hearing of her 
husband’s treachery, forsook his dominions and re- 
turned to her father’s palace, thus leaving the guilty 
pair to live their incestuous and adulterous life undis- 
turbed, for a time, at least, by her presence or claims. 

But the deed was so scandalous, even in that loose 
age, that the public indignation was so aroused as to 
make even a tyrant king uneasy. Thinking that if 
so noted a reformer as John could be induced to ap- 
prove his conduct public indignation would be quieted, 
Herod sent for him. Unsuspicious of wrong, the bold 
preacher of the desert crossed the Jordan, and went 
to the Castle of Macherus, in Perea. Here Herod 
stated his case, covering it, no doubt, with the gilt of 
plausibility. But John was neither a coward nor a 
casuist. Though he stood like a lamb before the den 
of a wolf, he bravely told the monarch that he had 
done an unlawful deed in marrying Herodias. 

The king probably was not much disappointed by 
John’s decision. No doubt he was vexed. But He- 
rodias was furious. She demanded the imprisonment 
of the bold moralist. The weak-minded sharer in 
her guilt obeyed her wish, and the noble Baptist was 
compelled to exchange the freedom of his desert life 
for the restraints of a dungeon in the Castle of Mache- 
rus. To cover the infamy of this unjust deed Herod 


Herod Antipas Imprisons the Baptist. 85 


An effect of John’s imprisonment. 

added a lie to the long list of his misdeeds, charging 
John, as we learn from Josephus, with exciting the 
people to revolt by his preaching. There was a 
splendid palace within that castle where those royal 
sinners spent their time in voluptuous pleasures; yet 
no one can doubt that the holy Baptist was happier 
in his dungeon than were his guilty persecutors amid 
the splendors of their festive halls. 


XVIII. 

JESUS JOURNEYS THROUGH SAMARIA. 

[A. D. 26.] 

t HE effect of John’s imprisonment on the move- 
^ merits of Jesus was immediate and decisive. It 
led him to quit Judea and proceed toward Galilee. 
Not that he feared Herod. His going into Galilee, 
where that royal sinner ruled, is proof that he feared 
nothing from him ; but John’s arrest, by leading to 
much public discussion, caused bis own superior suc- 
cess to be much bruited abroad in Jerusalem. One 
consequence of this was an active opposition to his 
person and ministry among the leaders of public opin- 
ion, that is, the Pharisees. As it did not suit the plan 
of Jesus to develop this opposition into overt acts 
against his life at that time, he retired to the distant 


SO 


Our King. 


Why Jesu^ went through Samaria. 

province of Galilee. Another reason must also have 
influenced this decision. The rainy season had set in, 
or was about to set in, rendering the open-air meet- 
ings in which he had hitherto exercised his ministry 
uncomfortable, if not impossible. 

Had Jesus partaken of the bitter hate which w T as 
then mutual between both Jews and Samaritans, he 
would not have chosen the route to Galilee which led 
through the province of Samaria. Strict Jews avoid- 
ed tli at route, choosing to travel up the eastern shore 
of the Jordan, through Perea, and crossing the river 
into Galilee, a short distance below the lake of Tiberias. 
Sometimes they preferred crossing Judea to the sea- 
coast, and entering Galilee through the plain of Es- 
draelon. But Jesus was superior to this national prej- 
udice. It was nothing to him that the ancestors of 
the Samaritans were idolaters, transported by the ty- 
rant kings of Assyria from beyond the Euphrates and 
settled on the lands once owned by the scattered 
tribes of Israel. He cared little for the pretense of 
the Samaritans, that they had a holier site for their 
temple on Mount Gerizim than the city of Jerusalem, 
nor that they claimed to be stricter followers of 
Moses than the Jews themselves. In his estimation 
a man was greater than a Jew. It was enough for 
him that the Samaritans were human beings in need 
of the light which he had come into the world to shed 






Jesus and Woman ot Samaria. 








The Journey of Jesus through Samaria. 89 


Scene at the Patriarch’s well. 


on the dark minds of humanity. To hate them, as did 
his countrymen, because they were not Jews, was one 
of the things impossible to his grand soul, which com- 
prehended the entire human race within the sweep 
of its tender love. On the contrary, he was prepared 
to pity, teach, and save them. And, therefore, he 
must needs go through their country, which was his 
shortest road to his much-loved land of Galilee. 

About midday he came into the lovely vale of 
Shechem. Wearied by the morning’s walk, he sat 
down beside a well dug ages before, according to a 
very creditable tradition, by the patriarch Jacob. 
His disciples had gone into the neighboring village of 
Shechem, or Sycliar, as the Jews called it by way 
of reproach,* to purchase food. This proceeding 
was necessary because no Samaritan would permit a 
Jew to enter his house. Jesus, must, therefore, eat 
his much-needed meal in the open air. 

While waiting the return of his five disciples, he 
sees a woman from the suburbs of Shechem approach- 
ing the well with a jar to procure water. The sight 
of a guilty human soul coming within reach of his 

* Sychar signified the town of the drunkard, or the town of false- 
hood. So says Lange in his “Life of Christ;” but he adds, “A third 
derivation makes the name a title of honor, the town of sepulcher, 
(Joseph was buried there,) and since this designation has the support 
of Jewish tradition, it is to be preferred to the former, which rests on 
mere conjecture.” 


90 


Our King. 


Perplexity of the Samaritan woman. 


saving power so arouses his compassion that he for- 
gets his fatigue, and addressing the woman he says : — 
“Give me to drink.” 


The woman, knowing 
by his dress, speech, and 
features that he is a Jew, 
is moved by her prejudices 
to exclaim indignantly: — 



“ I wonder that }'ou, 
being a Jew, should ask 
drink of me, a Samaritan !” 


Jesus, speaking with the air and tone of a digni- 
fied teacher, replies : — 

“ If you knew who is addressing you, instead of re- 
fusing you would ask and receive from him living 
water.” 

This answer perplexes her. The phrase, living 
water, suggests a perennial fountain to her mind. 
W ater from such a source is more to be desired than 
that which is taken from a well. But it also seems 
like a reflection on the excellency of this venerable 
well, made sacred in her eyes by the tradition of 
many centuries. And again, the readiness of this 
unknown Jew to give her living water seems like a 
censure of her own churlish disregard of his request. 
Scarcely knowing how to harmonize these conflicting 
ideas, she responds respectfully : — 


Jesus Journeys through Samaria. 


91 


Christ enlightens a guilty woman. 

“ Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with and the well 
is deep, how, then, do you expect to get this living 
water?” Then, still thinking that possibly this mys- 
terious Jew meant to depreciate the water of the well, 
she sharply asks, “ Are you a greater person than the 
patriarch Jacob, who dug this well, and drank of it 
himself, with his children and cattle?” 

Without seeming to notice her asperity, Jesus leads 
her mind from the literal well and water to^the grand 
idea he wished to impart, by telling her that the 
water which he was able to give had the wonderful 
property of preventing thirst, as if it were a fountain 
in the heart ever springing up into everlasting life. 

But her dull mind still fails to see the inspiring 
thought. Her conception is of water that will make 
her tedious trips to the well unnecessary. Such water 
she can appreciate, and she begs him to bestow upon 
her the precious gift. 

Having thoroughly aroused this poor woman’s mind, 
which, however, still remains in its native darkness, 
Jesus proceeds to an assault upon her conscience. 
Dropping symbols and figures of speech, he gives her 
a command which he knows will accomplish his pur- 
pose. With an air of mild authority he says : — 

“ Go, call your husband and come hither.” 

A tell-tale blush deepens the color on her swarthy 
cheek as she hesitatingly, but bluntly, replies: — 


92 


Our King. 


The woman’s conscience alarmed. 

“ I have no husband.” 

To tin's evasive answer the all-knowing Jesus re- 
sponds with the positiveness ol one who is certain that 
his words are true : — 

“ That is so. You have been married live times, 
and the man with whom you now live is not your 
husband.” 

These words startle her into a consciousness that 
she is in .the presence of no ordinary personage. 
She confesses this, but feeling loth to hear more of 
her own sins, seeks to turn the conversation by rais- 
ing the religious questions at issue between her coun- 
trymen and the Jews respecting the comparative 
claims of Jerusalem and Gerizim as centers of na- 
tional worship. Our Lord, while deciding in favor 
of the Jews, proceeds to impart to her the grand prin- 
ciples of that universal religion which he is in the 
world to teach. He shows her that worship is more 
than the place wherein it is offered ; and that since 
God is a Spirit, every-where present, any spot in 
which a man worships him in spirit is, for the time, 
as sacred as a temple ; more sacred, indeed, than a 
temple without a true spiritual worshiper. 

This sublime truth astonishes the woman without 
fully convincing her. Not knowing how to oppose 
his utterances, she suggests that these great questions 
will all be settled by the coming Messiah. Jesus 








Jesus Journeys through Samaria. 


95 


The woman’s faith and zeal. 

looking at her, as we may well imagine, with an 
expression of heavenly beauty and calm authority, 
responds : — 

“ I am the Messiah ! •” 

The woman is convinced. Her heart assures her 
that he who had told her the secrets of her life could 
not lie. Taking advantage of the presence of the 
disciples, who arrive at this moment, she leaves her 
water-jar, and quickly retraces her steps to the village. 
There she tells her strange story, and states her con- 
victions with such enthusiastic zeal as induces her 
neighbors to go and see the wonderful Teacher who 
sits on Jacob’s well. They, in their turn, are so 
deeply impressed by his sweetly dignified manner 
and wise words that they either forget or trample on 
their prejudices against the Jew, and invite him to 
tarry with them and partake of their hospitality. 
Ever ready to illustrate his own doctrine of man’s 
equality before God, Jesus accepts their invitation, 
enters their houses, instructs them, and, without per- 
forming any miracles, convinces many of them that 
he is the long-expected Messiah. When, two days 
after, he quits Sheehem, he leaves behind him many 
who love his person, and rejoice in him as “ the Christ, 
the Saviour of the world.” These converts, however, 
seem not to have borne fruit immediately; but they 
became the nuclei of a Church after their Master’s 


Our King. 


or? 


Celebrity of Jesus in Galilee. 

decease and resurrection, when the apostle Philip 
(Acts viii, 5, 6) went among them and reaped a rich 
harvest from the seed sown by Jesus on this memo- 
rable occasion. 


XIX. 

CHRIST’S WORD IN CANA CURES A BOY IN CAPERNAUM. 

[A. D. 36 7.] 

fc'ROM Shechem Jesus proceeded to his beloved 
Galilee, and, since it was now winter, visited 
the synagogues of its various cities on Sabbath days 
and preached. The burden of his preaching was the 
fulfillment of prophecy by himself, and the duty of 
repentance as the condition of admission into the 
spiritual kingdom lie had come to set up. He was 
received with general respect and attention, his re- 
markable deeds at Jerusalem during the preceding 
passover having given him very great celebrity. 

In the course of these journeys he reached Cana. 
Here he was met by an officer of the tetrarch’s (Herod 
Antipas) court, who, having a son sick at Capernaum, 
had come to him for healing help. This gentleman 
had probably heard of the deeds done by Jesus at 
Jerusalem, and, driven by the despair, of love, rather 
than by any personal interest in the great. Teacher, 
he prefers his request, saying :— 


Christ in Cana Cures a Boy in Capernaum. 97 


A distressed father. . The pity of Jesus. 

“My son, sir, is at the point of death at Caper- 
naum, I beseech you come with me and heal him.” 

Jesus must have perceived, by his divine knowledge 
of men, that this nobleman regarded him simply as 
a wonder-worker. He had no higher end in view 
than to save his son’s life. That fact accomplished, 
he would take no further interest in Jesus than he 
would in a successful physician. But the Saviour 
did not work miracles for earthly ends only. If he 
healed men’s bodies it was that they might come to 
him with faith for souldiealing also. Hence he re- 
buffed this courtly man by saying : — 

“Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not 
believe.” 

There is agony in that loving father’s soul, and hot 
tears in his eyes, as this apparent refusal falls on his 
ears. Possibly the look, manner, and tone of our 
Lord caused the poor man’s heart to leap with new 
feelings of respect and reverence toward him. Be 
this as it may, we know that he expressed the intensity 
of his emotion in the urgent plea : — 

“ O, sir, do come down ere my child die ! ” 

The pity of Jesus responded to this cry of a father’s 
agony. With the calm majesty of the Master of 
life asserting his power over disease, he said : — 

“Go thy way; thy son liveth.” 

These words had power over both father and son. 


98 


Our King. 


A father’s faith. A boy’s healing. 

In the former they begot faith ; to the latter they 
gave instant health. The father no longer thinks it 
needful that Jesus should go to his home to heal his 
beloved boy, but believes his potent word, spoken in 
Cana, can destroy disease in Capernaum. So confident 
is he of this, that although it is only a little beyond 
midday, and the distance only about twenty miles, 
he lingers around the Master’s steps that glad after- 
noon, and does not start for home until the following 
morning, when his faith is amply rewarded. His 
servants meet him on the way with the joyful news 
that, at the seventh hour of the previous day, the 
very moment in which Jesus spoke the healing word, 
his son’s fever left him. It was, indeed, a marvelous 
miracle. There was no place in it for deception, col- 
lusion, or imagination. Do you wonder that this glad 
father, his wife, and children, became disciples of 
our Lord ? * 

* It is the opinion of some that this nobleman was named Chuza. 
steward to Herod Antipas, and that Joanna, who afterward minis- 
tered to our Lord with her substance, (Luke vii, 3,) was his wife, and 
the mother of this boy so divinely healed. 


Jesus Threatened with Death at Nazareth. 99 


Jesus asserts his Messiahship. 


XX. 

JESUS THREATENED WITH DEATH AT NAZARETH. 

LA. D. 87.] 



HORTLY after his notable miracle at Cana, 


probably during the month of January, our 
Lord went to the home of his youth, Nazareth. There, 
as had been his habit in the past, he joined in the 
services of the synagogue on the Sabbath. One of 
its customs was to listen to the reading of stated por- 
tions of Scripture by such persons as its presiding 
officer might select. On this occasion the fame of 
Jesus as a prophet and head of a rising sect led the 
director of the service to hand him the scroll contain- 
ing the prophetic reading. Whether from choice, or 
because it was the passage appointed for that day, we 
cannot tell, but Jesus stood up and read a single 
passage from Isaiah, (chap, lxi, 1, 2,) in which the work 
of the promised Messiah is beautifully set forth. 

The spirit and manner of his reading were such 
that, when he returned the scroll to the sexton and 
sat down, every mind was profoundly impressed, and 
every eye fixed upon him in wonder and expectation. 
This feeling was greatly intensified when, with digni- 
fied but startling emphasis, he said: — 

“ This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” 
It would seem that, in accordance with the freedom 


100 


Our King. 


The rage of the Nazaritea. 

of synagogue service, this remark, with others which 
probably accompanied it, produced whispers and 
exclamations of wonder at first. But very soon a 
reaction took place. Some envious soul sneeringly 
asked his neighbor : — 

“ Is not this the carpenter’s son ? ” 

Murmurs and reflections upon his humble origin, 
compared with his present lofty pretensions, now 
passed round the assembly until the revulsion of feel- 
ing was complete and almost universal. Jesus, who 
heard their whisperings and read their inmost thoughts, 
sat in unabashed and silent dignity for awhile. Pres- 
ently he spoke to their thoughts in tones of just re- 
buke. In response to their whispered demand that 
he should sustain the claims he had made that morn- 
ing by repeating among them the wonders he had 
wrought in Capernaum, he referred them to Elijah and 
Elisha, who, passing by the many'lepers and widows 
among the Jews, had healed a Gentile soldier and 
fed a Gentile woman. This evident reflection upon 
their un worth in ess — this intimation that they were less 
deserving of his ministry than the heathen Samari- 
tans, who had shortly before admitted his Messiahship # 
without demanding the testimony of miracles— exas- 
perated their proud Jewish hearts. Their dark eyes 
flashed with the fires of uncontrolled passion. Push- 
ing wildly upon him, they bore him from the syna- 


Jesus Threatened with Death at Nazareth. 101 


The Majesty of Jesus conquers a mob. 

gogue with howls and curses, openly avowing their 
intention to take his life by casting him headlong 
from the brow of the hill on which the city was 
built into the wild, rocky gorge below. 

Then it was that the meek form of the apparently 
lowly man suddenly took on the majesty of the King 
of heaven. A power partly human, partly divine, 
went forth from him and awed that tumultuous mob. 
Fury gave place to fear. Their noisy tongues were 
silenced, as by the stiffening touch of paralysis. They 
stood like men bound by an irresistible spell, while 
their intended victim passed before their eyes and 
through their dividing ranks out of the city — master 
of himself and them. 

Outlawed and rejected by his old friends and neigh* 
bors, Jesus left the “ sanctuary of his childhood ” and 
took up his abode in Capernaum, some twenty-five 
miles distant. As he had predicted, the proverb 
which says, “no prophet is accepted in his own coun- 
try,” had been rudely verified in his experience. At 
Capernaum, though rejected by many, he would yet 
find disciples who would bind themselves to him with 
the indissoluble ties of faith and love. 


102 


Our King. 


The view from Capernaum. 


XXI. 

CAPERNAUM AND THE LAKE OF GALILEE. 

r /|SAPERNAUM was a small village near the 

northern border of the pretty little lake of Gal- 
ilee, sometimes called Tiberias, and also Gennesareth. 
Its exact site is undecided, as is that of most of the 
other villages on the shore of this lake, to which 
Christ so often repaired. As one writer says, “ It is 
doubtful whether we shall ever succeed ... in identi- 
fying the places to which humanity would fain come 
to kiss the imprints of his feet.” It is supposed, how- 
ever, by some of our best travelers, to have stood 
where certain ruins called Tell Hum are found. If 
so, it was delightfully situated, and commanded a fine 
view of the lake, with its “water of celestial azure 
deeply incased between frowning rocks, and which, 
when viewed from the summit of the mountains of 
Safed, seemed to be in the bottom of a cup of gold.* 

* While all around its shores the Sea of Galilee saw towns and 
villages thronged with au agricultural and manufacturing population, 
itself teemed with a kind of wealth that gave large occupation to fish- 
ermen. How numerous the boats were which once skimmed its sur- 
face, and how large the number of persons employed as fishermen, may 
be gathered from the fact that, in the wars with the Romans, two hun- 
dred vessels were once collected foe. the only naval action in which 
the Jews ever engaged. Remembering that the lake is only thirteen 
miles long and five or six miles broad, it is not too much, perhaps, to 



Sea of Galilee. 









Capernaum and the Lake of Galilee. 105 


Jesus on the shore of the lake. 

To the north of the city the snowy ravines of Her- 
inon stood out in white lines against the sky ; on the 
east the high and undulating plains of the Gaulonitis 
and of Perea, completely arid, and clothed by the sun 
in a species of velvety atmosphere.” Behind it the 
land was fertile. Its inhabitants subsisted partly by 
fishing in the lake and partly on the trade of the 
grand caravans continually passing through it between 
Damascus and the ports of the Mediterranean Sea. 


XXII. 

JESUS WORKS A MIGHTY MIRACLE ON - THE LAKE. 

[A. D. 27.] 

S S our Lord approached Capernaum, walking 
along the pebbly shore of the lake, and resting, 
it may be, at times beneath the shade of the oleanders 
and tamarind trees which crowned its numerous prom- 
ontories, the peasants from the adjacent country 
followed him. Some of them had seen him, doubtless, 
at Jerusalem. All had heard of his mighty deeds. 
They entreat him to teach them as he had taught the 

say that never did so small a sheet of water see so many keels cut- 
ting its surface, or so many human habitations circling round and 
shadowing its waves, as did the Sea of Galilee in the days of Jesus 
Christ. — Hanna: Our Lord's Life on Earth. 

6 


103 


Our King. 


Golden words and a mighty deed. 

people in other places. Presently, on coming to a 
cove in which were two boats hauled upon the beach, 
he requests one of their owners who was busy washing 
his nets, to push off a short distance from the shore. 
The fisherman, who was no other than his disciple 
Simon Peter, gladly consents. Then, seated in this 
boat as it floated in the little cove, Jesus spoke some 
of his golden sentences to the peasants and fishermen 
who were standing on the beach and seated on the 
basalt rocks, which rose on either side and formed the 
pretty little inlet. 

His discourse being ended, he turns to Peter and 
says : — 

“Simon, pull out into deep water and let down 
thy net.” 

Peter replies that he and his brother Andrew had 
fished all night, but without success. Their fisher- 
men’s judgment told them there was no hope now 
of a haul of fish in that part of the lake; but still, if 
Jesus really wished it, they would try again. As 
Jesus did not withdraw his request, the brothers 
rowed out into deep water and lowered their net. 
Instantly it was so filled as to put the net in peril of 
breaking by the great weight of the fish. The 
astonished brothers eagerly beckoned their part- 
ners to come with the other boat and aid in secur- 
ing this unexpected prize. They did so, and both 


Jesus Works a Miracle on the Lake. 107 


Peter’s surprise. Peter’s petition. 

boats were speedily so tilled with fish that they were 
in danger of sinking. 



No fishermen on that pleasant lake had ever wit- 
nessed such marvelous fishing as this. Peter and his 
companions knew that a divine force must have drawn 
those fish into their nets at the moment indicated by 
Christ’s words. On no other ground could they ac- 
count for this great marvel. Peter, as quick to speak 
as to feel, fell down before the mighty author of this 
great wonder, clasped his knees, and, in deep adoring 
humility of spirit, exclaimed : — 

“Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O 
Lord!” 

Jesus could repel a proud, self-conceited man, but 
a sin-stricken soul, like Peter, always awakened his 
pity and won his love. Instead, therefore, of leaving 
him he took him into the nearest relation to himself 
that was possible. He made him and Andrew, his 


108 


Our King. 


Tour fishermen called to do noble work. 

brother, his apostles on the spot, saying, in the sooth- 
ing tones of confiding love : — 

“ Fear not ; follow me : from henceforth I will 
make you fishers of men.” 

This call to the noblest work ever committed to hu- 
man hands these humble fishermen responded to with 
the alacrity of loving souls. Without hesitation or re- 
luctance they rowed their heavy-laden boat to the 
nearest cove, and, abandoning nets, fish, and craft to 
the care of others, joyfully followed the footsteps of 
their Lord. 

Jesus led them along the lake beach to a cove close 
to Capernaum, in which lay the boat of their brother 
fishermen, John and James. These other witnesses 
of the astounding miracle, it would seem, had taken 
their share of the fish to shore near the city market, 
had quickly disposed of it, and had begun to busy 
themselves with the repair of their nets. In doing 
this needful work they were assisted by their father, 
Zebedee, and their hired servants. Pausing near 
enough to their boat to be heard, Jesus called them 
to follow him and to become his followers also. Moved 
by the same loving spirit as their partners, they dropped 
their unfinished net, leaped from their boat, and, 
leaving all their earthly interests to their venerable 
father’s care, placed themselves absolutely at the dis- 
posal of the wonderful Being before them. John had 


Jesus Works a Miracle on the Lake. 


109 


The sacrifice of the fishermen. 

previously attached himself to Christ as a disciple 
when in Perea; now he and his brother were called 
by him to be his constant attendants, and the wit- 
nesses of his heavenly words and mighty deeds. 

The obedience of these four men was an act of great 
faith. It involved no inconsiderable sacrifice. Though 
not rich men, they were not abjectly poor. They 
were prosperous fishermen, owning boats and nets, 
hiring servants, and doing a profitable business in 
Capernaum, in which they were either owners or hir- 
ers of houses. These things, together with the quiet 
enjoyment of home-life, they cheerfully abandoned 
when they consented to. become the apostles of a 
teacher “ who had not where to lay his head.” But 
they appear to have left all their pleasant things with 
the cheerful fearlessness of simple-minded men. They 
had already seen their new Master turn water into 
wine, control the fish in the lake, and give' health to 
the sick and dying by his mysterious power. Surely, 
said their faith, this must be Messiah. No mere man 
could do what we have seen him do. He honors us 
in choosing us for companions. He is able to provide 
for us. We know not what he will require us to do, 
nor what will be our fate if we join him. But we 
can safely trust him, and we will gladly do his bid- 
ding. Thus, doubtless, these straightforward, honest 
souls reasoned. They had their reward. To them it 


110 


Our King. 


The novelty of Christ’s teaching:. 

was given to sow precious seed which is still bearing 
priceless blessings for mankind ; to win the highest 
places in the records of human history ; to be first 
among the saints in the heavenly kingdom of their 
beloved Lord. 


XXIII. 

A DEMON OBEYS THE COMMAND OF JESUS. 

[A. D. 2?.] 

§ N the following Sabbath Jesus, being in the 
synagogue at Capernaum, was requested by its 
ruler to read and expound a portion of Scripture. He 
did so. What he said is not recorded, but his words 
and manner produced a great sensation. The novelty 
of his method surprised the people. A scribe seldom 
or never ventured to utter a personal opinion, but con- 
tinually repeated the quibbles and sayings of Hillel, 
Shammai, or some other dead Rabbi. Jesus spoke as 
from himself, giving his own interpretation of holy 
Scripture and his own conceptions of sacred truth. 
He did this with the air and tone of a master who 
thoroughly comprehended his theme, with a clearness 
which convinced the judgment, with an impressiveness 
which awed the conscience, and an earnestness which 
moved the heart. The people listened with rapt at- 


A Demon Obeys the Command of Jesus. 1 1 1 


The demon’s cry. The demon’s terror. 

tention at first, and then with unconcealed astonish- 
ment. 

Suddenly the utterance of these life-giving words 
is interrupted by the cry of an unhappy man whose 
body and mind are controlled by an evil spirit or 
demon. His voice rings through the synagogue with 
startling effect, saying : — 

“Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, 
thou Jesus of Nazareth ? art thou come to destroy 
us ? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of 
God.” 

This is an astounding testimony to the divine char- 
acter of Jesus from an inhabitant of hell. But such 
evidence can only work evil to our Lord’s mission 
by giving seeming plausibility to a subsequent slan- 
der of his foes, which blasphemously charged him 
with being in league with the evil one. Hence, 
with the irresistible authority of his divine nature, 
lie replies to the demon : — 

“ Hold thy peace, and come out of him.” 

The demon trembles and obeys, but with a cry of 
despair and a shock which throws his victim into ter- 
rible convulsions. But it was his last spiteful inflic- 
tion on the being he had so long controlled. While the 
demon is flying in terror to the deep abyss, the man, 
relieved of his power, rises to his feet with a sound 
mind in a sound body. The unwonted spectacle 


112 


Our King. 


Enthusiasm of the people. 

amazes every one. The service is abruptly closed. 
The people spring to their feet, and, impressed by the 
indisputable fact, say one to another : — 

“What a word is this! for with authority and 
power he cornmandeth the unclean spirits and they 
come out.” 

None of those many witnesses to this great miracle 
thought of questioning the reality of the scene, nor 
of the connection between Christ’s word and the 
grand fact which followed. They heard his command. 
They saw the well-known demoniac rise to his feet in 
perfect health. Do you wonder that they went out 
and reported the marvelous deed to their friends, or 
that the name of Jesus was soon repeated with en- 
thusiastic praise all over the beautiful hills and fertile 
plains of Galilee? 


XXIV. 

PETER'S MOTHER-IN-LAW CURED OF A FEVER. 

[A. D. 27.] 

jpRCM the synagogue Jesus went to the house 
occupied by Peter and Andrew, to eat his noon- 
tide meal. Here he was told that Peter’s mother-in- 
law* was sick with a very violent fever. With over- 

* Peter was a married man, and continued to be such while exercis- 
ing his ministry after his Lord’s ascension. (1 Cor. ix, 5.) Hence we 


Peter's Mother-in-law Cared of a Fever: 113 


A festal day in Peter’s house. 


flowing compassion he went to her couch, took her 
by the hand, and uttered words which instantly 
cooled her fevered blood, restored her wasted strength, 
and enabled her to rise flushed with vigorous health, 
and to minister, with glad heart, and loving hands, to 
the bodily wants of her mighty Restorer. Surely that 
was a festal day in Simon’s house! 


XXV. 


A GLAD DAY IN CAPERNAUM. 



APERNAUM was a city filled with gladness 


(|%on that memorable Sabbath. The story of the 
relieved demoniac and of the healing of Peter’s 
mother-in-law spread like wildfire through every 
household. Hope visited every weary-hearted victim 
of sickness and every anxious one whose beloved friend 
was suffering from disease. A mighty Healer was 
among them. Might they not all be cured ? They 
might not visit him until the last Sabbath hour was 
ended, lest they should break the law, which made all 
its hours sacred ; but then they would carry their 
sick to Peter’s door, and beg the prophet of Nazareth 

have the authority of Jesus, who called this married man to be an 
apostle, and the example of this chief of apostles, to prove that mar- 
riage is honorable in Christian ministers. 


114 


Our King. 


A wonderful Sabbath evening. 

to lieal them all. Such were the hopes and purposes 
which thrilled the hearts of the inhabitants of that 
city on this eventful Sabbath day. 

We may rightly enough imagine how, when the 
last golden ray of the setting sun tinted old Carmel’s 
brow, many little bands came forth into the streets, 
leading the blind, guiding the possessed with gentle 

force, assisting the 
lame, and carrying 
the sick or para- 
lytic. All these 
groups, constantly 
enlarging from the 
gathering of curi- 
ous neighbors, take 
up their line of 
march toward Pe- 
ter’s house. As 
they come together from every highway and byw r ay 
they form a great crowd in the street before and 
around the door which shuts in the presence of our 
gracious Lord. But he, hearing the hum of many 
voices, goes forth and looks with divine compassion 
upon that wondrous scene. 

Jesus was no mere sentimentalist. His sympathies 
always ran into instant action. He laid his gentle 
hands upon the sick, and their diseases fled from his 



A Glad Day in Capernaum.. 


115 


Jesus missing. 


Inquiring crowds. 


heavenly touch. He spoke to howling demons, and 
they shrank with dismay back to their abyssmal 
prison. In a short time Capernaum was all aglow 
with gladness, for not a case of sickness remained 
within her privileged walls. She had felt the power 
of Him concerning whom a prophet had sung seven 
centuries before : — 

“ Himself took our infirmities and bare our sick- 
nesses.” 


XXVI. 

A THREE MONTHS’ TOUR IN GALILEE. 
LA. 1>. 87.] 



O give opportunity for this popular excitement 


to calm down, and to gain time for a season of 


refreshing communion with his Father, Jesus arose 
before dawn the next morning, and went out to a 
“ solitary place.” Presently his four disciples, rising 
from their couches, missed him. Knowing his habits, 
they went out to seek him. On reaching the street 
they found the city already alive with renewed ex- 
citement, The inhabitants were coming forth from 
their homes in every street, eager to witness a 
repetition of the marvelous scenes of the preced- 
ing Sabbath, and expressing their earnest desire 


116 


Our King. 


Great activity of Jesus. Galilee described. 

to have Jesus take up his abode permanently with 
them. 

When the disciples found Jesus, as they soon did, 
Peter made known to him the feelings and wishes of 
his townsmen. He replied that he intended to go 
to the neighboring cities and villages, that he might 
teach the people generally the great truths which he 
had come into the world to make known. 

He then led them away from Capernaum, and be- 
gan a most triumphal tour throughout the province 
of Galilee.* Wherever he went he repeated the 
mighty deeds which had already won him great and 
wide-spread reputation. He taught in the synagogue 
and preached on* the hill-sides, and other suitable 
places, in his simple, beautiful, impressive manner. 
People brought their sick from every direction, and 
he proved himself, as he had already done, the master 
of disease in every form. The whole country w 7 as 

* Galilee ... is between fifty and sixty miles in length, and from 
thirty to forty in breadth. ... In our Saviour’s days it was densely 
populated. . . . Josephus speaks of two hundred and four towns and 
villages, the smallest of them containing above fifteen thousand inhab- 
itants. Making an allowance for exaggeration, the population of the 
province must have been about three millions. . . . And this popula- 
tion was of a very mixed character. If the majority were of mixed 
descent, there were so many Phenicians, Syrians, Arabs, Greeks, and 
others mingled with them, that we may be almost certain that Jesus 
never addressed any large assembly in which there were not Gentiles 
as well as Jews. ... In those days there was much more life and 
bustle in Galilee than in Judea.— Hanna. 


A Three Months’ Tour in Galilee . 


117 


Christ’s great popularity. 



stirred as the story of his wonderful works spread. 
Multitudes from every part of Galilee, from Syria, 
the east side 
of the Jor- 
dan, and Je- 
rusalem, list- 
ened to his 
instructions, 
and witness- 
ed his won- 
drous mira- 
cles. Jesus 
met with but 
little opposi- 
tion on this 
tour, which, 
perhaps, oc- 
cupied very 
nearly three 
months. As 
the popular 
feeling was 
in his favor, 


every house was open to receive him. His praise 
was on every tongue, and it seemed as if the people 
were ready to admit his claims and accept him as the 
long-expected Messiah. But Jesus was not deceived. 


118 


Our Kino. 


The most horrible of diseases. 


Beyond the popular acclamation his ear heard the 
distant murmurs of priestly hostility, and his prescient 
mind told him that these murmurings would soon in- 
crease, and swell into a fearful storm of angry voices 
fiercely clamoring for his violent death. 


XXVII. 

THE LEPER’S FAITH AND HEALING. 
[A. d. a?.] 



HE details of this first tour in Galilee are not 


Qy. recorded ; neither are its miracles specified, ex- 
cept in one remarkable instance — the healing of a 
leper. Now leprosy was the most horrible of all dis- 
eases. It corrupted the blood and poisoned all the 
springs of life, until its wretched victim literally rot- 
ted away. It was not contagious. Nevertheless, the 
poor leper was held by the Mosaic law to be so un- 
clean that no one might touch him without being de- 
filed. Hence he was outlawed from society, and com- 
pelled to herd with his companions in misery in places 
set apart for their abode. Moreover, the leper was 
deemed incurable, except by Divine interposition, or, 
in very rare instances, by the exhaustion of the poison- 
ous virus which had been consuming him. 


The Leper's Faith and Healing. 


119 


A leper begs to be healed. 

Bat while Jesus was astonishing the country by his 
divine mastery of all sorts of sickness, one of these 
unfortunates heard of his fame, and cherished hope 
that such a mighty Being could cure even the incur- 
able in human estimation. His case was one of the 
very worst, for he was u full of leprosy,” a mass of 
living corruption. Nevertheless, such was his faith, 
founded on universal report, that when he met Jesus 



in one of the Galilean towns, he prostrated himself and 
said : “ Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” 

This man’s pitiful appearance moved our Lord’s 
compassion ; his wonderful faith won his bountiful 
love. Stretching forth his hand, he touched the pros- 
trate, anxious, expectant leper, and said 


120 


Our King. 


The leper’s cure. The leper’s mistake. 

“ I will : be thou clean.” 

Before those words of infinite power the leprosy 
fled. In an instant its long-suffering victim rose to 
his feet in perfect health, and with a heart overflowing 
with speechless gratitude. 

Jesus then instructed him to proceed with all suit- 
able speed to Jerusalem, to make the offerings re- 
quired by the law in the case of a cleansed leper, and 
to procure from the officiating priest a certification of 
his cure. That the priest might not maliciously 
withhold his certificate because the healing was done 
by him, Jesus bade the man say nothing of the author 
of his cure until after the priest had pronounced him 
cleansed. He would thus secure his own rights, and 
make the priest an involuntary witness of his Heal- 
er’s power. 

This prudent caution was not in harmony with the 
glad leper’s feelings. He was too happy to be silent. 
His tumultuous gladness, like the swellings of a 
fountain, speedily swept over the barrier of Christ’s 
judicious counsel; and the man had no sooner left his 
Healer’s presence than he began to tell his story in 
burning words, and with a soul which was ablaze with 
love, gratitude, and wonder. He erred, no doubt, but 
it was the error of a grateful heart, which, we question 
not, our ever-pitiful Lord readily forgave. 

The effect of his unwise zeal was to vastly increase 


The Leper's Faith and Healing. 


121 


Return of Jesus to Capernaum. 

the enthusiasm of the people. The whole province 
of Galilee was electrified by a deed unheard-of since 
the days of their ancient prophet, Elisha. The towns 
poured forth their inhabitants; such multitudes 
thronged the footsteps of Jesus that he no longer 
dared enter the cities, lest in their exultant gladness 
the crowd should proclaim him king, or, in some 
other way, bring him into open conflict with his ene- 
mies while as yet his mission was not accomplished. 
Hence he went into the more thinly inhabited places, 
where he could enjoy better opportunities for undis- 
turbed communion with his Father. But even there 
multitudes sought him, and listened in rapt astonish- 
ment to his blessed words. 


XXVIII. 

STRANGE THINGS IN CAPERNAUM. 

[A. I>. 27.] 

f OWARD the latter end of March, Jesus, escap- 
ing from the crowds which besieged his steps, 
returned privately to Capernaum. But public curios- 
ity permitted him no repose. It was no sooner known 
that he was in town than his abode was visited by 
crowds eager to hear his heavenly words. Among 
them were numerous learned men, attracted by his 
7 


Our King. 


122 


The palsied man brought to Jesus. 

peerless fame, and ready, as we shall soon see, to do 
what they could to lower him in public esteem. 

One day, when the crowd filled the court-yard and 
choked up the gateway leading to it from the street, 
a singular scene was witnessed. Four men had 
brought a palsied friend to the door of Christ’s abode, 
but could not gain admission on account, of the throng 
wedged in the passage way. Determined not to be 
foiled, they gained admission to the court of the next 
house, ascended to its roof, bore the sick man across the 
parapet, and breaking up part of the roof,* lowered 
the invalid, by the corners of his bed, or padded quilt, 
into the court below where Jesus was teaching. 

This resolute act pleased our Lord greatly. [No 
doubt the palsied man largely partook of the faith 
which prompted it; very possibly he suggested this 

* Oriental houses are wholly unlike ours. “Those of Capernaum, ” 
says Thomson, “as is evident from the ruins, were . . . very low, with 
fiat roofs reached by a stairway from the yard or court. Jesus prob- 
ably stood in the open lewan, and the crowd were around and in front 
of him. Those who carried the paralytic, not being able ‘ to come at 
him for the press,’ ascended to the roof, removed as much of it a 3 
was necessary, and let down their .patient through the aperture, . . . 
the thing is natural and easy to be accomplished.” The materials of 
the roof were probably beams three feet apart, covered either with 
sticks, thorns, and marl, or coarse matting, or boards, or stone slabs. 
In either case they were easily removed and readily repaired. All 
the points in the narrative “are rendered intelligible by an acquaint- 
ance with modern houses in the villages of Palestine.” See Thom- 
son’s “ Land and Boole," vol. ii, pp. 6-8. 


Roof of Oriental House. 



t 



















































































































IStrange Things in Capernaum . 


125 


Christ pardons the poor man’s sins. 

mode of reaching Jesus. Be this as it may, he was 
certainly in a state of mind which prepared him to 
receive, not the gift of healing merely, but the higher 
gift of pardon also. Jesus, to whom his heart was 
an open book, seeing this, said : — 

“Man, be of good cheer: thy sins are forgiven 
thee.” 

These were the words of God. No wonder they 
startled the malicious Pharisees and doctors who were 
in the audience. To them it was clear that their 
utterer must be either an impostor or “ God manifest 
in flesh.” Refusing to concede his divinity, they, with 
ill-concealed bitterness, said among themselves: — 
“'Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who 
can forgive sins but God alone?” 

Jesus at once demonstrated his power to do the 
divine act of pardon by displaying his omniscience. 
He held up their secret thoughts before that spell- 
bound assembly, when, after charging them with 
thinking evil, he asked them, 

“Whether is it easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven 
thee ; or to say, Rise up and walk ? ” 

It was certainly self-evident that he who could do 
one of these acts must have both power and authority 
to do the other. None but God could do either. 
The Jews believed that a palsied man was a very 
great sinner, and Jesus proceeded to assert that he 


12G 


Oue King. 


Christ heals the palsied man with a word. 

had chosen to openly pronounce this man’s sins 
forgiven, for the purpose of teaching them that he 
had the power to remit sin. To prove the validity 
of this startling claim, he would now put forth his* 
divine power over the poor man’s body. Then turn- 
ing to the already pardoned sinner, he said : — 

“Arise, take up thy couch and go unto thine 
house ! ” 

Instantly the pulsations of restored life rushed 
thrillingly into the benumbed limbs of the prostrate 
man. Conscious of restored vigor, he leaped from 
his mattress. Rolling it up and placing it under his 
arm, he carried it through the throng, which parted 
at his approach, into the street, and to his own home. 

“We have seen strange things to-day!” was the 
remark which passed from lip to lip as that amazed 
crowd broke up. But those learned casuists, proof 
against the most conclusive evidence of our Lord’s 
Messiahsliip, retired, silenced by the greatness of his 
unquestioned miracle, yet still nourishing that ma- 
licious jealousy of his great fame which was soon to 
break forth, first in biting calumnies, and then in 
cruel persecutions which would culminate in death. 


A Tax-gatherer called to be an Apostle. 127 


The tax collector near the lake. 


XXIX. 

A TAX-GATHERER CALLED TO BE AN APOSTLE. 

[A. ». ar.i 

FEW days after doing this notable deed, Jesus 
did an act eminently calculated to illustrate 
the moral grandeur of his character, but which was 
equally fitted to lower him in the estimation of 
the Jewish people. 

While walking; be- 


side the lake Gen- ; 
nesareth he saw a 
man named Mat- j 
thew sitting by the . 

“ receipt of cus- 
tom.” He was a 
collector of taxes ; 
probably, as his 
office was on the 
shore of the lake, of “ the dues levied upon the fish 
brought to shore, and upon the vegetables and fire- 
wood received from the other side of the lake.” — Kitto. 
To this man Jesus said : — 

“ Follow me ! ” 

Matthew’s response was prompt. He quitted his 
place of business at once, and joined himself to our 
Lord as one of his apostles, of whom he made the fifth. 



128 


Our King. 


Generally bad character of publicans. 

Perhaps there was no class of men so detestable to 
the Jews as publicans or tax-gatherers. All oriental 
nations dislike intensely the collectors of the revenue. 
But the Jews believed it contrary to their law to pay 
tribute to strangers. When, therefore, one of their 
nation became a collector of customs for their Roman 
masters, in the time of our Lord, they practically out- 
lawed him. Socially, he became an outcast. Relig- 
iously, he was an excommunicated man. They would 
not even suffer him to make offerings of any sort in 
the temple. They would not permit him to hold any 
judicial office ; neither would they accept his testi- 
mony in a court. He was under ban every-where, 
and his very name was a by-word and a reproach. 

Too often did the publicans merit much of this 
treatment. Most of them were greedy, corrupt men, 
ever ready to revenge the insults heaped upon them 
by acts of heartless extortion. A few were better 
than their calling, which, being covered with such 
universal odium, was little calculated to elevate those 
who followed it. Of this number, it is presumable, 
was Matthew. In calling him, our Lord not only 
protested against the injustice which put a class of 
human, beings under a cruel ban on account of a vo- 
cation not necessarily wicked, but he also showed that 
he had come to be the friend of the most despised 
classes. The lowest as well as the highest of humanity 


A Tax-gatherer called to he an Apostle. 129 


Jesus in Jerusalem. 


were to see in him the compassion which pities 


distress, and the love which lifts the most degraded 


from the gloomiest depths of sin up to the beautiful 
heights of purity and joy. It wa3 the glory of Jesus 
that he was the avowed friend of publicans and sin- 
ners. Ilis enemies counted it his shame. 


XXX. 

A CRIPPLE HEALED AT THE POOL OF BETHESDA. 

LA. D. 27.] 



yvSj HORTLY after calling Matthew to be one of his 


apostles, Jesus weiit to Jerusalem about the 
second week in April, to join in the services of the 
passover. On the Sabbath after his arrival his 
compassionate heart led him to visit a pool named 
Bethesda,* to which numerous invalids were in the 
habit of resorting. This pool had a high traditional 
reputation. Popular belief said that an angel some- 
times descended, and, by disturbing the water, im- 
parted to it power to heal whomsoever first stepped 
in after his departure. It is highly probable that its 
waters bubbled up on occasions, when some adjacent 
medicinal springs overflowed and ran into it. Be 

* The precise locality of this pool cannot be ascertained. Robin- 
son thinks it may have been identical with the one now known as 
the Fountain of the Virgin. 


130 


Our King. 


The cripple in despair. The cripple healed. 

this as it may, it is certain that Jesus saw among the 
invalids who were in waiting there a poor man who 
had suffered from paralysis, or some kindred disease, 
through the long space of thirty-eight years. Look- 
ing pitifully on this despairing, suffering creature, 
whose sad story lay open before his all-knowing mind, 
Jesus asked : — 

“Wilt thou be made whole?’’ 

The poor cripple’s reply reveals both the greatness 
of his faith in that mysterious water and the depth 
of his despair. Certainly he would be healed if he 
could, but he had little or no hope, because, whenever 
the auspicious moment arrived, he had no friend at 
hand to put him into the pool. Perhaps he saw some- 
thing in the mien, and heard something in the voice, 
of Jesus which awakened hope that he might tarry 
there and perform this needed service for him. Our 
gracious Lord did a better thing. He said, with 
an authority and power which begot faith in the 
cripple’s heart, and wrought a healing work on his 
body : — 

“ Rise, take up thy bed and walk ! ” 

Wondrous words! They set every palsied muscle 
and stiffened tendon in the man’s body free from the 
bonds which had so long bound them. In a moment 
he was on his feet. A minute later he had rolled up 
his mattress and was hastening through the streets of 


A Cripple Healed at the Pool of Bethesda. 131 


The angry elders. The cripple’s good sense. 

Jerusalem toward his home, with the strides of a 
man in vigorous health. 

This divine deed was very properly done on the 
Sabbath, to which, of all days, it was surely the most 
befitting. But the Jews had buried the divine idea 
of the Sabbath so deep beneath their idle traditions 
as to have lost all correct notions of its right observ- 
ance. When, therefore, some of their elders met this 
restored cripple carrying his mattress, they were 
offended, and said to him sternly : — 

“ It is the Sabbath day ! it is not lawful for thee 
to carry thy bed.” 

The man’s experience of the divine power of Jesus 
had lifted him out of the foggy atmosphere of tradi- 
tion, and brought him consciously near the Source of 
all law. His common sense told him that a Being 
who could work such a miracle could not err re- 
specting the proprieties of the Sabbath day, and he 
promptly replied : — 

“ He that made me whole, the same said unto me, 
Take up thy bed and walk.” 

A sufficient reason, surely, for honest minds; but in- 
stead of satisfying, it exasperated those slaves of hu- 
man tradition. In tones of asperity they demanded 
the name of his benefactor. But the happy man had 
been so overwhelmed with speechless joy that before 
he could find words to speak his gratitude Jesus had 


132 


Our King. 


Jesus before the Sanhedrin. 

mingled with the multitude and left the place, with- 
out making so much as his name known. Hence the 
man could not tell his angry questioners the name of 
his mighty Friend. But a day or two later, when the 
restored invalid went to the temple with his thank- 
offering, Jesus met him and gave him this wholesome 
caution : — 

“ Behold, thou art made whole ; sin no more, lest a 
worse thing come upon thee.” 

The man now recognized his benefactor. Impelled, 
partly by gratitude and partly, perhaps, by a desire to 
excuse himself for doing what they condemned, he 
hastened to the elders and told them that the noted 
Galilean prophet, Jesus, was his healer. This fact, 
which ought to have commanded their admiration, 
only provoked their anger ; and it would appear that 
they summoned Jesus to answer for his alleged vio- 
lation of the Sabbath before the great Sanhedrin, or 
Council of Seventy. 

You may find his defense in St. John’s Gospel. 
(See John v, 17-47.) It is a sublime assertion of his 
divine character and rights, of his equality with the 
Father, and of his just claims on their faith; it also 
boldly charges them with unfaithfulness to the words 
of Moses, for whose law they affected so much zeal ; 
and it proved that, if they really believed that an- 
cient lawgiver, they would become his disciples, 


A Cripple Healed at the Pool of Bethesda. 133 


A deadly purpose. Jesus starts for Galilee. 

instead of seeking to destroy him, as they were now 
trying to do. 

This grand assertion of his divinity appears to have 
so awed the Sanhedrin that no formal measures were 
adopted against him, though it is not unlikely that 
they pronounced his act of healing, and the man’s act 
of carrying the bed, to be unlawful acts on the Sab- 
bath. But though they permitted the accused Jesus 
to leave the temple unharmed, they made up their 
minds that, on the first opportunity, they would 
avenge his undisguised contempt for their traditions 
and his bold assertion of his divinity, by putting him 
to death. 

Knowing their secret purpose, and not being ready, 
as yet, to yield himself up to death, our Lord with- 
drew from Jerusalem and from the province of Judea, 
He directed his steps back toward his beloved Galilee, 
where he knew he would be safe from arrest. While 
there his enemies might w’atcli his movements with 
malicious eyes; they might speak evil of him falsely, 
and strive to break down his popularity by vile as- 
saults upon his reputation but they could not strike 
him down. When his hour is come he will place 
himself within reach of their cruel power. Until then 
they must gnash at him in vain. 


134 


Our King. 


The hungry disciples. 


Cynical Pharisees. 


XXXI. 

DISPUTE WITH THE PHARISEES IN A FIELD OF 
BARLEY. 

[A. D. 27.] 

S HE following Sabbath another incident brought 
Jesus into renewed collision with the Pharisees. 
He was walking through a field of ripe barley in the 
vicinity of some village, probably not far from Jeru- 
salem, when his 
disciples gathered 
a few ears and ate 
some barleycorns 
to satisfy the crav- 
ings of hunger. 

Some of his ene- 
mies seem to have 
been dogging his 
steps. Seeing his 
disciples rubbing 
out barleycorns they stepped up, and said to him 
with evil intent: — 

“Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful 
to do upon the Sabbath day.” 

Jesus knew that these sticklers for outward obedi- 
ence held that willfully plucking an ear of grain on the 
Sabbath was a sin, for which the punishment was 



Dispute with the Pharisees . 


135 


Jesus gives his views of the Sabbath. 

death by stoning. He knew, also, that this interpre- 
tation of the Sabbath law was wrong. Hence he de- 
fended his disciples by quoting the conduct of David 
in eating the show-bread when hungry, and of the 
priests in killing animals for sacrifice on the Sabbath. 
He gave them to understand that, as Lord of the Sab- 
bath, he was better pleased with acts of humanity and 
charity on that day than with hollow-hearted forms 
of service, however rigidly performed. It was his will 
that the day should be a blessing and not a burden 
to mankind. 

This renewed assertion of his divine dignity ap- 
pears to have silenced his malicious foes for the mo- 
ment. At least their reply, if they made one, is not 
recorded. 


XXXII. 

CURE OF A MAN WITH A CRIPPLED HAND. 

(Sg)Y the following Sabbath, it is supposed, he had 
reached Capernaum. Going, as usual, to the 
synagogue to teach, he saw a man in the audience 
whose right hand was withered, or shriveled. Some 
Pharisees, who had doubtless heard ot the recent ac- 
tion of the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, and who partook 


130 


Our King. 


An apt illustration. A notable miracle. 

of the bitter spirit of their sect, perceiving, by his 
kindly glances at the crippled man, that lie was about 
to heal him, asked : — 

“ Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day ? ” 

The all-penetrating eyes of our Lord saw the mali- 
cious intent of their question, but did not fear it. 
Turning to the afflicted man, he bade him stand up 
in presence of the assembly. Then, addressing his 
adversaries, he demanded whether it was lawful to 
do good or evil, to save life or to kill, on the Sabbath. 
This question silenced them, because any rational re- 
ply to it must amount to justification of the merciful 
act Jesus intended to perform. 

Then, to exhibit their inconsistency in condemning 
him for doing good to a man, our Lord referred to 
the uncensured practice of lifting a sheep out of a 
pit on the Sabbath. This apt illustration must have 
made their hostility appear contemptible to the great 
body -of the people. Jesus, after casting upon them 
a look expressive of his grief for their blindness and 
his indignation against their stubbornness, said to the 
man with the crippled hand : — 

“Stretch forth thine hand !” 

The man gladly obeyed, and the next moment the 
whole assembly saw that the heretofore shriveled 
member had suddenly become a perfect hand. 

Surely there was no reasonable ground for ques- 


Dispute vrith the Pharisees. 


137 


A political council. 

tioning the divine character of Him who had done 
this marvelous deed. But men under the control of 
malicious passion are not guided by reason. Hence 
those Pharisees left the scene of this undeniable mira- 
cle in a rage, and, calling some members of a political 
party, named Herodians,* into counsel, they concert- 
ed measures for destroying the great Healer’s life. 


XXXIII. 

THE APOSTOLIC COLLEGE ORGANIZED. 


[A. D. 87.1 

o^» 

JTT would have been perfectly easy for Jesus to op- 
pose his infinite power to the malignant devices of 
his foes. He who could heal a withered hand with the 
words of his lips could have smitten his enemies with 
disease or death had he chosen to do so. But this 
was not his plan. He had not come to destroy but 
to save. His miracles were merciful, not judicial. It 
pleased him, therefore, to deal with his enemies as a 

* The Herodians favored the claims of the Herod party to kingly 
power in case of national independence. As Jesus was a representa- 
tive of the royal family of David, and proclaimed his purpose to set up 
a kingdom which most of his followers at that time believed would 
be a temporal one, it was easy to bring the advocates of another royal 
line into hostility against him. Thus the anti-Jesus party at Caper- 
naum was both political and religious. 


13S 


Our King. 


Scenes on the lake shore. A night of prayer. 

mere man might do. Hence, finding it dangerous to 
remain longer in Capernaum, lie left it, and retired 
to the shores of the lake. Here he was comparatively 
safe, for if his enemies should succeed in procuring an 
order for his arrest from Herod, he could readily es- 
cape the officers of the law by crossing the lake into 
a province beyond that monarch’s jurisdiction. 

The hostility of the Pharisees did not as yet affect 
his popularity with the people, vast multitudes of 
whom came from all parts of Palestine to hear his 
heavenly words and witness his mighty deeds. Dis- 
eased persons were brought to him in great numbers, 
and, in the largeness of his benevolence, he healed 
them all. 

It was during 
the month of May, 
as is supposed by 
some of the best 
harmonists, that 
after a night spent 
in a mountain in 
solitary prayer, he 
organized the col- 
lege of apostles by 
selecting twelve 
men from among his most immediate and devoted 
followers. 



The Apostolic College Organized. 


139 


Qualifications of the Apostles. 

Some of the twelve men whom he now set apart to 
be his personal attendants, his witnesses, and the 
preachers of his doctrines, had been previously called. 
The entire band, when completed, consisted of Peter 
and his brother Andrew, John and his brother James, 
Philip, Bartholomew, (that is, Nathaniel,) Matthew, 
Thomas surnamed Didymus, (the Greek word for 
twin,) James the son of Alpheus, Judas or Jude, Simon 
called the Canaanite, (from a word signifying zealot, 
because he had probably been filled with fiery zeal in 
defending the Jewish faith,*) and Judas surnamed 
Iscariot, from the name of his native village. 

Most of these honored men were fishermen, as we 
have already seen, Matthew was a tax-gatherer. 
What the others were is unknown. In all proba- 
bility they were mechanics bred to some craft, as their 
Master had been. No doubt they were intelligent, 
as oriental craftsmen are to this day; and educated so 
far as to be able to read the Scriptures, and to appear 
as public teachers without offense to the tastes of the 
general public. It is true that they were considered 
“ unlearned and ignorant men ” by the scholarly 
members of the Sanhedrin, (Acts iv, 13,) but this 
proves nothing more than that they were not critical 

* Some say lie belonged to the party of the Zealots, which subse- 
quently did such wild work in Jerusalem when it was besieged ; but 
that party had not as yet been formed. 

8 


140 


Oue King. 


Why Jesus selected twelve companions. 

Hebraists, nor familiar with the writings of the Rab- 
bins, whose numerous commentaries on the Law were 
the chief study of the schools. Beyond all question 
they were clear-headed, respectable, well-informed 
men, not low bred, stupid peasants or laborers, as some 
have hastily supposed. Their ignorance of rabbinical 
lore, instead of being a disqualification, was really an 
advantage, because it left their minds unwarped by 
theories which only obscured the truth, and rendered 
their believers unfit to perceive how admirably and 
completely the law and prophecies were fulfilled in 
the person, work, and doctrines of Jesus. 

The purpose of Jesus in selecting twelve good sen- 
sible men to be his intimate companions and his pri- 
vate pupils, was to make them the witnesses of his 
miracles, especially of his resurrection, the deposita- 
ries of his truths, and his messengers to mankind. 
For these ends he made them his spiritual family, 
admitting them to the closest intimacies of a loving 
but dignified friendship. They were constantly with 
him during the greater part of the last two years of his 
life. They saw him in public and in private. They 
listened to his sweet parables daily, as spoken to the 
people, and to his still sweeter words spoken for their 
personal instruction in private. In this way he qualified 
them for the work which they so faithfully performed. 
The fruit of their labors was the Christian Church. 


Christ's Sermon on the Mount. 


141 


The crowds. 


The memorable sermon. 


XXXIV. 

CHRIST’S SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 

[A. D. 27.] 

S AYING chosen his apostles, Jesus descended 
from the high ground to a level platform near 
the foot of the mountain. Here he found a vast con- 
course awaiting his coming, and with them, as usual, 
were large numbers of invalids sick with all manner 
of diseases. Among these he scattered the gift of 
health with the unstinted munificence of a divine 
benefactor. Evidently, his wonder-working power 
was inexhaustible, and in their enthusiastic eagerness 
to secure the healing virtue which distilled from 
his person like dew 
from heaven, the 
invalids and their 
friends crowded un- 
comfortably close 
upon him. To es- 
cape from their ex- 
cessive demonstra- 
tions, Jesus ascend- 
ed to a horn of the 
hill, on which he sat 
down and uttered those memorable words called the 
Sermon on the Mount. (See Matt, v, vi, vii.) 



142 


Ouk King. 


Spirit of the ten commandments. 

A more sweet and beautiful discourse never fell on 
human ears. It was a simple unfolding of the spirit 
and morals of the kingdom Jesus had come to estab- 
lish. Its precepts, so different from the maxims and 
practice of the age, so exacting with respect to inward 
morality, so contrary to the teachings of the Phari- 
sees, must have filled his hearers with wonder and 
astonishment. Nevertheless, they were all deduced 
from their ancient faith, and tended to exhibit 
the difference between the actual righteousness re- 
quired by the Law, and that perversion of it exhib- 
ited in the lives and axioms of the Pharisees, who pre- 
tended to be its perfect embodiments and its wisest 
expounders. Such a lofty ideal of morality, such a 
high standard of heart-purity, had never before been 
presented to mankind by any teacher. It was an ex- 
position of the spirit and meaning of the ten com- 
mandments by their Infinite Author! 


Jesus lleals a Military Officer's Servant. 143 


The soldier’s messengers. 


XXXV. 

JESUS HEALS A MILITARY OFFICER’S SERVANT. 

LA. D. sr.l 

do not wonder, that at the close of this peer- 
less sermon the deeply impressed multitude 
quietly followed the Lord from the scene of its deliv- 
ery to the neighboring city of Capernaum, whither 
he went seeking repose. He surely needed rest after 
a night spent in prayer, and a morning so busily oc- 
cupied. But the needs of others again press upon 
him, and hinder him from reaching the quiet of his 
home. 

There was a soldier in Capernaum who probably 
commanded a company of infantry * in the army of 
King Herod. This officer appears to have been a 
Gentile converted to Judaism. He had a servant, 
to whom he was fondly attached, who was sick and 
in the agonies of death. Having heard of the won- 
ders wrought by Jesus, he requested certain elders of 
the Jews to entreat him that he would come and heal 
his dying servant. These elders, not participating in 
the hostility of the party lately formed against Jesus, 
and feeling great friendship for the centurion, accepted 

* A company or centurio of Roman foot-soldiers numbered from 
thirty to a hundred men. Hence this centurion’s rank was somewhat 
analogous to that of a captain in a modern army, though his duties 
wero somewhat different, and his responsibilities greater.— Kitto. 


144 


Our King. 


The soldier’s faith. 


The servant’s cure. 


the mission. They met Jesus near the city gate, and 
warmly urged him to meet the soldier’s wishes. 

Jesus cheerfully consented to go with them to the 
soldier’s dwelling. Meanwhile, this modest suppliant, 
while thinking over his request, had become over- 
whelmed with a sense of his unworthiness to receive 
so great a guest, and with shame for having asked so 
great a favor. So strong were these feelings that he 
hastened to meet our Lord. With humble reverence 
he confessed his unworthiness to receive him under 
his own roof, and begged him to command the disease 
to quit his servant, as he himself was in the habit of 
commanding his servants. He was confident that a 
word from Jesus would bring his sick servant back 
from the gates of death. 

This was remarkable faith. Jesus honored it, first 
by the encomium, “ I have not found so great 
faith, no not in Israel,” and then by saying to the 
soldier : — 

“Go thy way ; and as thou hast believed, so be it 
done unto thee.’’ 

Without hesitation or doubt the centurion retraced 
his steps. On reaching his house he found his servant 
whole. Christ’s will had restored him unseen to per- 
fect health ! 


Christ Brings a Dead Youth to Life. 145 


Jesus at Nain. A mournful procession. 


XXXVI. 

CHRIST BRINGS A DEAD YOUTH TO LIFE. 

[A. D. 87.] 

S HE next morning, probably at an early hoar, our' 
Lord left Capernaum with his disciples and 
journeyed about twenty -five miles in a southwesterly 
direction to the village of N ain. Such was the zeal 
of the people, that crowds followed him the whole 
distance 1 . They were amply repaid for their toil when 
they reached the hill of Little Hermon, on which the 
city of Nain stood. 

A funeral procession w T as passing from the gate of 
the city to the cemetery just as Jesus and his host of 
followers approached it. A young man, the only son 
of his widowed mother, lay dead upon the bier. The 
bereaved woman followed, deeply lamenting a loss 
which had left her alone in the world. Her case was 
an unusually affecting one, and commanded such 
general sympathy that very large numbers of the 
people of Nain had joined the mournful procession. 
But now a stranger was near in whom the sympathy 
of a man and the power of God were sweetly com- 
bined. Her tears touched his compassionate heart. 
The fountain of his boundless pity overflowed, and 
in tones which expressed both tenderness and author- 
ity, he said : — 


140 


Our King. 


The weeping mother. A dead youth brought back to life. 

“Weep not, O woman ! ” 

Did these gentle words beget hope in the widow’s 
heart? Probably not. How could she even imagine 
that any one could bring back her son from the mys- 
terious realm of death? Still, they mnst have ar- 
rested the swelling tide of her great grief, and caused 
her to lift her tearful eyes upon the speaker. She 
saw him place his hand upon the bier, and motion 
the astonished bearers to stop. She heard him say 
to her dead son : — 

u Young man, I say unto thee, arise ! ” 

Grand words these, if the speaker be God ! Fool- 
ish babbling, if he be man only. But the result 
demonstrated his divine authority. Scarcely had his 
words died on the mother’s ears, before the eyes of 
the dead youth opened, the ruddy color of healthful 
life came back to his cheeks, his bandaged body rose 
up, and his lips uttered articulate sounds. Death had 
met his Sovereign, and had surrendered his prey at 
his imperial command. Then, with gentle courtesy, 
Jesus led the now happy mother to the side of her 
restored son, and quietly passed into the city. 

This marvelous miracle impressed the spectators 
with awe. Heretofore he had exerted his power over 
diseases only, and they had became familiar with his 
acknowledged mastery over every form of sickness 
known among them. But now for the first time he 


Christ Brings a Dead Youth to Life. 147 


An astonished people. 

had shown himself to be Lord over the king of ter- 
rors himself. Unlike Elijah and Elisha, who had 
. raised the dead by means of prayer, Jesns had done 
the deed by the exercise of his own power. His own 
mighty word had been heard in the silent land and had 
been obeyed. The grandeur of this divine act made 
its many witnesses feel that they were in the presence 
of a Being of more than creature might. Hence fear 
took the place of wonder, and with reverent manner 
and in low whispers they said to one another : — 
“Surely, a great prophet is in our midst ! ” 

And then they departed, spreading the story of this 
unheard-of wonder all over the astonished land. 


XXXVII. 


THE BAPTIZER’S MESSAGE TO JESUS. 

[A. D. 37.] 

■^rf^THILE the luster of these great miracles was 
\£yr covering the name and person of Jesus with 
a blaze of glory, and making him the idol of the great 
body of the people, there was a noble prisoner in the 
Castle of Macherus whose mind was greatly disturbed 
respecting him. This was no less a personage than 
John the Baptist, whose fidelity in telling the truth 


US 


Our King. 


Perplexity of the Imprisoned Baptizer. 

to the licentious Herod had, as you already know, 
cost him his liberty. 

This castle was situated in Perea, near the Arabian • 
border. Hither some of John’s disciples repaired, 
after witnessing the recent miracles of our Lord, the 
one at Hain especially, and reported the doings and 
popularity of Jesus to their imprisoned master. Very 
likely they were somewhat jealous of our Lord, be- 
cause the brilliancy of his star was eclipsing that of 
the great baptizer. Possibly their feelings colored 
their report, and helped to increase the perplexity 
of John respecting the precise mission of his great 
successor. Favored though he had been by direct 
divine revelation respecting the character of Jesus, he 
appears not to have fully comprehended the manner 
in which the Messianic kingdom was to be founded. 
Like the rest of his countrymen, he was probably look- 
ing for some sudden outburst of celestial glory and 
power, amid which Messiah was to take possession of 
David’s earthly throne, and to minister from its em- 
purpled seat to both the spiritual exaltation and the 
temporal grandeur of the Jews. Of that long-contin- 
ued humiliation, terminating in death upon the cross 
by which Jesus was to found a spiritual kingdom, 
comprised only of souls that love him, he had little, 
if any, conception. Hence arose his perplexity. The 
miracles reported to him confirmed the supernatural 


The Baptizer's Message to Jesus. 


149 


What John’s messengers saw. 

testimonies to Christ’s wonderful character, of which 
he had been the honored recipient ; but his anxious 
heart asked, Why this long delay on Christ’s part to 
set up his Messianic kingdom? What did it mean? 
Was Jesus really the Messiah of the prophets, or, like 
hi in sell*, only one 
of his precursors. 

He would send to 
Jesus himself for 
a solution of this 
perplexing prob- 
lem. Accord ing- 
ly,sometimein the 
month of June, he 
commissioned two 
of his disciples to 
go into Galilee and ask him this question : — 

“ Art thou he that should come ? or look we for 
another? ” 

• These men found him somewhere in the vicinity of 
Nain or Capernaum, surrounded with crowds of peo- 
ple, among whom, as usual, were many sick who had 
come to him for healing. The men forced their way 
close up to Jesus and delivered their message. He 
listened, and then, without making any immediate 
reply, continued to heal the sick, cast out demons, 
and give sight to some blind persons. When every 



150 


Our King. 


The reply of Jesus. Christ’s eulogy on John. 

applicant had been restored to health, Jesus turned 
to the seemingly neglected messengers of John and 
said : — 

“Go tell John what you have seen and heard. . . . 
Say also to him that happy is he who shall not be 
offended in me.” 

This message was designed to convince John that 
Jesus was actually doing those works of mercy pre- 
dicted of Messiah by the ancient prophets, and to 
warn him not to fall into the error of rejecting him, 
as the Jewish elders had already done, because he 
was not proceeding to assert his claims to the visible 
throne ot David after the manner of ordinary kings. 
Of the effect of this message on John’s mind we know 
nothing. We may, nevertheless, reasonably infer 
that it both enlightened his understanding and calmed 
his disturbed feelings. 

After the departure of John’s disciples Jesus pro- 
nounced a high and beautiful eulogy on the great 
baptizer’s character. He next proceeded to show the 
injustice of cavilers toward both John and himself. 
They had found fault with the ascetic habits of the 
former; they had maligned himself because of his con- 
formity to the ordinary innocent habits of the people. 
But the conduct of both would be approved by right- 
minded men, who alone were able to understand 
either. And then, as his mind recalled the indigni- 


The BaptizeTs Message to Jesus. 


151 


Simon's entertainment Simon’s discourtesy. 

ties heaped upon him by the heads of the synagogue 
at Capernaum and elsewhere, he uttered an indig- 
nant and eloquent protest against their unpardonable 
conduct. (Matt, xi, 20-21.) 


XXXVIII. 

PENITENT WOMAN AND CAPTIOUS PHARISEE. 

[A. d. a?.] 

S FEW days later we find our Lord the guest of 
a Pharisee named Simon, at Magdala, or some 
other village in the neighborhood of Capernaum. 
This man’s hospitality does not appear to have been 



entirely cordial, as was shown by his omitting some 
of the usual courtesies of oriental life, such as washing 


152 


Our King. 


An unbidden spectator. 


his feet, and by his disposition to think unfavorably 
of the actions and words of his distinguished visitor. 
But while Jesus and his disciples were reclining upon 
the couch, called a triclinium , which stood in the 
middle of the room, a woman of had reputation came 
in and stood with modest shame behind our Lord. 
She could do this readily, because the dinner-couch 
formed three sides of a square, with a space between 
it and the walls. The dinner-table was “ within the 
area formed by the triclinium .” As it was customary 
to permit the free entrance of spectators during the 

entertainment of 
stranger guests, 
this woman had 
found no difficulty 
in gaining admis- 
sion to the room. 

Her life had been 
notoriously wick- 
ed. But she had 
heard words from 
Jesus which had 
caused her to sor- 
row over her sins. 
And now, while 
standing near his person, the intensity of her penitence 
is shown by floods of tears which fall on our Lord’s 



Penitent Woman and Captious Pharisee. 153 


A beautiM expression of affection. 

feet. Having no ordinary means at hand for wiping 
them dry, in the excess of her humility she uses her 
long hair as a towel. Then, yielding to the impulses of 
a pure affection, she imprinted many grateful kisses 
upon his feet, which she finally proceeded to anoint 
with oil from an aldbastron , or box for holding per- 
fumes, made from a stone- found at Alabastron, in 
Egypt, which was supposed to preserve precious oils 
better than any other substance. 

These extraordinary proceedings very naturally at- 
tracted the attention of our Lord’s host. He was of- 
fended by them, because of the evil reputation of the 
woman, and of the conduct of Jesus in permitting 
her to do as she did unrebuked. He thought that if 
Jesus did not know the vileness of this woman he was 
no prophet; if lie did, then his sufferance of her sin- 
gular action was proof that he did not avoid defile- 
ment, as, according to Pharisaic notions of purity, a 
prophet should. 

The all-knowing mind of Jesus instantly read the 
thoughts of this self-conceited man, and he put the 
case of the woman into a parable of two debtors, one 
of whom was forgiven a debt of seventy-five and the 
other of seven dollars. Having drawn from the re- 
luctant Simon a confession that the former would 
naturally cherish a higher degree of gratitude to his 
generous creditor than the latter, he proceeded to 


151 


Our King. 


The woman comforted. Simon rebuked. 

apply the illustration to the woman’s case. Her treat- 
ment of him was very different from Simon’s. He 
had not even offered him water for his feet ; she had 
washed them with her tears. He had given him 
no kiss of welcome ; she had repeatedly kissed his 
feet. He had not anointed his head ; but she had 
anointed his feet. The reason of this difference was 
obvious. She had been very wicked, and having had 
much forgiven her, her love was great. Then turn- 
ing from the censured Simon to the trembling woman, 
he sent a thrill of holy joy through her loving heart 
as he said, with sublime dignity : — 

“ Thy sins are forgiven ! ” 

These words brought frowns to the brows of Simon 
and his brother Pharisees, and they murmured in 
sullen whispers to each other, u Who is this that for- 
giveth sins also ?” They could not brook our Lord’s 
assertion of his divine prerogative. But, regardless 
of their scowls, Jesus, after a few moments, dismissed 
the woman by saying :• — 

“ Thy faith hath saved thee : go in peace.” 

There was heavenly power in these words, and they 
imparted a joy to her purified soul such as no mor- 
tal’s words could give. But to the captious Pharisees 
they were only fuel, adding fiercer heat to the fires 
of jealousy and malice which burned in their proud, 
unbelieving hearts. It is even so to-day. To some 


Penitent Woman and Captious Pharisee. 155 


Our Lord’s attendants. Rich gifts to the people. 

the words of Jesus are life and joy ; to others they 
are a savor of death. The spirit of their hearers de- 
termines the character of their effects upon them. 


XXXIX. 

CHRIST’S SECOND TOUR OF GALILEE. 

[A. D. 27.J 

■/gfevF the incidents of the next four months of our 
blessed Lord’s” life we know- very little beyond 
the fact that he was making a second tour through the 
province of Galilee. His companions on this tour 
were his twelve apostles, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, 
Susannah, and other illustrious ladies. These distin- 
guished women made it their grateful task to minis- 
ter to our Lord’s temporal needs out of their abun- 
dant wealth. Wherever Jesus went he spoke to 
listening crowds, arid scattered his healing mercies as 
freely as the bounteous heavens give down the fruit- 
ful rain in spring. Both in number and value his 
gifts were worthy of his divine character. They were 

such as God only could give. 

9 


15 6 


Our King. 


In Capernaum again. 


Christ’s mother and brothers. 


XL. 

A DEMONIAC HEALED AND THE PHARISEES REBUKED. 

[A. D. 27.] 

r jL^HIS tour ended, as it is supposed, some time in 
October. But its termination brought no repose 
to Jesus. No sooner was his arrival at Capernaum 
known than vast crowds collected, and so thronged 

liis dwelling as to 
render it impos- 
sible for him # to 
snatch an interval 
of much-needed re- 
pose, or even to sit 
down to eat. 

His mother and 
brothers, who were 
either residents or 
visitors in Caper- 
naum at this time, hearing that his zeal in teach- 
ing the people was leading him to neglect, as 
they thought, the demands of prudence, hastened 
to his abode. Poor Mary ! The muttering* of 
Pharisaic anger against her wonderful Son, and his 
seemingly unwise neglect of his personal comforts, 
alarmed her maternal fears. She is represented as 
joining her other sons in a purpose “ to lay hold on 



Demoniac Healed and Pharisees Rebuked. 157 


Might of Christ’s words. Exasperated Pharisees. 

him •’ by gentle force and in, proclaiming, as she has- 
tened to aid them in executing this well-intended but 
foolish plan, “ He is beside himself.” Fortunately 
for her fame, she and her other sons were prevented 
from making the undignified attempt by the compact 
crowd which filled every approach to the house. 

While his mother and brothers were vainly striving 
to reach Jesus, a man whom a demon had robbed of 
both sight and speech was brought into his presence. 
With a word he made the poor creature master of 
himself and of his long-imprisoned powers. This 
wonderful cure amazed its astonished witnesses, and 
they eagerly asked : “ Is not this the son of David ? ” 

This public expression of a dawning faith in the 
Messiahship of Jesus, on the part of the people, ex- 
asperated the Pharisees to madness. A deputation 
from Jerusalem of these bitter enemies of Christ had 
reinforced the anti-Jesus party in Capernaum. The 
malevolence of both was excited to fever heat by these 
adulations of the populace. They could not deny the 
fact which had drawn forth their exclamation, for the 
man so divinely cured was before them. But they 
could decry the cure by ascribing it to Satanic 
agency. This they did, whispering the foul sugges- 
tion into each other’s ears, through sneering lips which 
betrayed the diabolic hatred of Jesus which swelled 
their corrupt hearts. 


158 


Our King. 


A blasphemous charge. 

The superiority of Jesus shone out conspicuously in 
his manner of dealing with these men. Before their 
blasphemous murmurs could reach the popular ears 
he proved himself to be the All-knowing One by 
dragging them into the light, and by exposing their 
folly. He gave the plea its proper aspect of folly by 
showing, in a brief parable, the impossibility of gain- 
ing Satan’s power to be used against his own dark 
kingdom. He next pressed them with the question : 
“ By whom do your followers, who profess to exorcise 
demons, cast them out?” Then, asserting the divinity 
of the force by which he cast out devils, he proceeded 
to unvail their unpardonable guilt in ascribing the 
manifest work of God to infernal agency. This he 
pronounced to be blasphemy against the Holy Ghost 
— a sin too vile to be forgiven, because it could only 
proceed from a soul too willfully wedded to its own 
corruptions to be renewed. (Matt, xii, 24-37.) 

Still unabashed by this exposition of their guilt, 
some of those bad men next demanded of Jesus a sign 
from heaven in proof of his claims on their belief. This 
they did hoping to show the people that, great as they 
believed him to be, there were still some things be- 
yond his power. But Jesus, confident that enough 
had been already done to convince all who were open 
to conviction, boldly refused to meet their malignant 
demand. He affirmed that their motive for requiring 


Demoniac Ilealed and Pharisees Rebuked. 159 


An excited woman — the mother of Jesus. 

a sign from heaven was evil, and proceeded to assert, 
with commanding dignity, that they had a sufficient 
sign, in the miraculous preservation of Jonah, of his 
own coming burial and resurrection ; that the repent- 
ance of the men of Nineveh under the preaching of 
Jonah would condemn them for rejecting himself; 
and that, in like manner, the queen of Sheba’s atten- 
tion to the wisdom of Solomon would witness in the 
judgment against their treatment of himself, inas- 
much as he was greater than either of these person- 
ages. (Luke xi, 16, 29-31 ; Matt, xii, 38, 45.) 

Suddenly his discourse was interrupted by the ad- 
miring cry of a highly-excited woman, whose voice 
rung out clear and strong over the assembly, saying: — 
“Blessed is the mother who bore and nursed so 
eloquent a son ! ” 

By this time his mother and brothers, still unable 
to reach his person, had contrived to get a message 
from them passed from lip to lip, until some one near 
him said: “Behold, thy mother and thy brethren 
stand without, desiring to speak with thee.” 

Jesus, fully aware of their purpose and of their un- 
worthy speech against himself, took this opportunity 
to rebuke them, though in the most indirect and gen- 
tle manner. He was evidently grieved because of their 
unauthorized interference with his work, and asked : — 
“ Who is my mother? and who are my brethren ? ” 


16 ) 


Our King. 


Mary rebuked. A Pharisee's invitation. 

Then stretching forth his hand toward his twelve 
disciples, he added with deep feeling: — 

“Behold ray mother and ray brethren ! For whoso- 
ever shall do the will of ray Father which is in heaven, 
the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.'” 

Alas for the claims set up in behalf of poor Mary 
by deceiving priests and deluded worshipers of the 
“ Virgin Mother! ” Her glorious Son rebuked her, as 
he had done twice before, because she intruded her 
maternal claims within the circle of his Messianic 
duties. His spiritual claims on her were higher and 
more sacred than her natural ones upon him. To 
him, an obedient disciple was dearer than a doubt- 
ing, meddling mother. Ho doubt she meant to do 
him service, and prevent him, if possible, from fall- 
ing by the hands of his powerful foes, whom she knew 
to be plotting against his life. But she had not then 
learned the infinite distance between the son of Mary 
and the Son of God. 


XLI. 

A SHARP DISPUTE WITH PHARISEES. 

S HE worn aspect of Jesus, probably, led a Phar- 
isee present to invite him to go and partake 
of the noontide meal. He accepted, dismissed the 
assembled crowd, and went to the Pharisee’s man- 


A S'iCifj) Dispute with Pharisees. 


161 


A ceremony omitted. Angry Pharisees. 

sion. Here, knowing that the “ washing of hands,” 
so carefully practiced by his host and his brother 
Pharisees present, was regarded as a religious act, 



ORIENTAL HAND \VA8H1N(J. 


and not as a matter of personal cleanliness, he delib- 
erately took his seat with “ unwashen hands,” that is, 
with hands not washed with their ceremonial strictness. 

His host was offended, and most likely showed his 
feelings by frowns, and by cynical remarks whispered 
to his immediate friends. Jesus, released from the 
obligations of strict courtesy by these discourtesies on 
the part of his host, proceeded to expose the hollow- 
ness of Pharisaic ceremonials in words which first? 
deeply wounded their pride, and then excited their 
fiercest rage. They tried to perplex him with intri- 


102 


Our King. 


Christ’s antagonism of the Pharisees. 

cate questions, to vex him with taunts, and to pro- 
voke him to say something which might justify an 
accusation against him. But Jesns was superior to 
their wicked devices ; and, although his words wound- 
ed their pride and struck their consciences like arrows 
tipped with fire, yet his enemies failed to betray him 
into a phrase which could be tortured into proof of 
either heresy or treason. Nevertheless, the scenes of 
that morning served to show Jesus and the people 
that the Pharisees were resolved on bringing him to a 
violent death. On his own part, he had begun to 
unmask their'hypocrisy. Their blasphemous declara- 
tion, that his miracles were the result of Satanic 
agency, had proven the utter hopelessness of convinc- 
ing them either by deeds of heavenly power or by 
words of highest wisdom. . They had deliberately re- 
jected him. It became, therefore, a necessary part 
of his work, henceforth, to tear the mask from their 
hypocritical faces in presence of the whole people. 
That he faithfully performed it his terrible denuncia- 
tions, uttered from that day forth on every suitable 
occasion, afford ample proof. He never spoke even 
of harlots, as he did of these corrupt men, and that, 
too, not behind their backs, but to their faces. The 
’justification of his fearful assaults upon their charac- 
ter lies, first, in their truthfulness ; and, secondly, in the 
necessity he felt for despoiling those hypocrites of 


A Sharp Dispute with Pharisees. 


103 


Teaching by parables. Perplexed disciples. 

their influence over the people whom they were lead- 
ing to ruin. (Luke xi, 37-54.) Much of the remain- 
der of this exciting day was spent by our unwearied 
Lord in teaching the people, by means of some of 
those inimitable parables which give such charm and 
value to the gospels. These discourses were given, 
partly in his own house, and partly from the deck ot 
a flshing-boat lying in one of the coves of the lake, a 
short distance from Capernaum. (See Luke xii, 
13-34; xiii, 1-9; Matt, viii.) 


XLII. 

A CANDIDATE FOR DISCIPLESHIP REPELLED. 

§ FTER dismissing the people to their evening 
meal, Jesus retired once more to his abode in 
the city. But even there he was not permitted to re- 
pose. His disciples were perplexed because he had 
that day departed from his usual practice of teach- 
ing by means of brief, simple maxims, and had spoken 
in lengthy parables, which even they could not com- 
prehend. They, therefore, questioned him concern- 
ing his reasons for this change. They also begged 
him to explain the meaning of the parable of the 
sower. 

Jesus, ever full of kindly condescension, tried to 


104 


Our King. 


Explanations. A volunteer. 

make tliein understand that it was a necessity of his 
Messianic work which caused him to throw the vail 
of the parable over his instructions to the people. A 
full, public explanation of the sublime mysteries of his 
spiritual kingdom would hurry him to his appointed 
death before its foundations were fully laid. Never- 
theless, he must direct the people’s attention to its 
spiritual character sufficiently to hinder them from at- 
tempts to seat him on David’s earthly throne. For 
these reasons he had spoken in symbolic language, 
which would be made intelligible to all hereafter. 
But, as he had chosen themselves to be his confidants 
and witnesses, he would lift the vail from the parable 
at once, so that they might clearly understand the na- 
ture of the kingdom he had come to found. 

Having finished his explanations, it would appear 
that Jesus walked out with his disciples to the shore 
of the lake, intending to enjoy the refreshing effects 
of the cool evening breeze. But again did the eager 
multitude surround him. That he might escape the 
pressure, he told his disciples to get a boat and carry 
him across the lake. While he was preparing to em- 
bark, a Scribe, who probably imagined that he might 
gain some honor in the coming earthly kingdom 
which he wrongly imagined Jesus was about to found, 
approached him and said : — 

“Teacher, I will become your constant disciple.” 


A Candidate for Disciple ship Repelled . 165 


The Scribe's rejection. 


Precious opportunity lost. 


Jesus, knowing the selfish nature of this man, dis- 
concerted him with the declaration that such disci- 
pleship, instead of bringing him ease, honor, and 
wealth, would involve a life of privation, such as he 
himself led. 

This prospect appears to have discouraged the am- 
bitious Scribe, for we hear nothing more from him. 
Two other persons, whom Jesus then commanded to 
follow him, excused themselves by pleading the claims 
of natural affection, and thereby missed the precious 
opportunity of gaining a place in that noble little 
band which was honored with the personal friendship 
of Jesus, and with the high ofl^ces of embassadors in 
his kingdom. 


XLIII. 

JESUS SUBDUES A TEMPEST ON THE LAKE. 

[A. D. *?.] 



UR wearied Lord no sooner found himself out 


on the lake, than, yielding to the pressure of 
fatigue, he sought a seat in the stern of the vessel. 
Takirur a cushion from a rower’s bench he used it for 
a pillow, and speedily fell into a sound sleep. Pres- 
ently one of those sudden storms peculiar to that beau- 
tiful little lake came sweeping down from the heights 
of u snowy Hermon,” through deep ravines which 



Storm on the lake. 


The miraculous calm. 


served as “gigantic funnels to draw down the cold 
winds from the mountains.” In a short time the face of 
the lake, which had lately been smooth as the surface 
of a mirror, became “ like a huge boiling cauldron.” 
The waves broke furiously over the vessel, and almost 
filled her with water. The disciples, fishermen though 
many of them were, became greatly alarmed. They 
knew that, humanly speaking, they were in imminent 
peril of sinking. In their alarm, some of them 
crossed to the stern, and after awakening Jesus, said 
to him, in tones that betrayed their fear : — 

“ Lord, save ns : carest thou not that we perish ? ” 

Rising from his rude pillow, Jesus looked out upon 
the wild waste of waters, and said to the furious 
sea : — 

“ Peace, be still ! ” 

The winds and waves instantly owned their Cre- 
ator’s power. 

“ There was a great calm ! ” 

Then our Almighty Lord, to whom it was as easy 
to control the forces of the visible World as it was to 
heal the sick or raise the dead, turned a half-reproving 
look upon his amazed disciples, and asked 

“Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have 
no faith ? ” 

To this inquiry they could give no answer. The 
stupendous miracle they had witnessed made them 


Jems Subdues a Tempest on the Lake . 1G7 


Terrified disciples. God in Christ. 

feel that they were in the presence of the Creator. A 
feeling of awe crept over them. Their hearts froze 
with terror, and, while casting furtive glances at 
Jesus through the gloom of night, they whispered to 
each other : — 

“ What manner of man is this, that even the winds 


and the sea obe} T him ? ” 



There can be no satisfactory answer to this ques- 
tion other than that of the apostle, who tells that our 
blessed Lord was “ God manifest in the flesh ! ” 



Our King. 


168 


Two maniacs. 


Gergesa. 


XLIV. 

THE DEMONIACS OF GERGESA. 

[A. d. ar.i 

ySEVUR illustrious Lord spent the remainder of that 
memorable night on the placid bosom of the 
lake. Early the next morning he landed on its east- 
ern shore near a city named Gergesa.* As he was 
ascending the smooth beach toward the town, he was 
met by two nude men whose haunts were in the 
tombs built in the side of an “immense” mountain 
which towered above the walls of Gergesa. These 
creatures were fierce maniacs, or demoniacs rather, 
and were the terror of all who passed near their hor- 
rible hiding-places. They had been bound with 
chains, but such was their strength that they had 
snapped their iron bonds and maintained their savage 
freedom untamed. Their cries were fearful, and their 
bodies hideous and bloody from the deep gashes cut 
in their flesh with sharp stones by their own hands. 

* Not Gadara. which was several miles from the lake, and so sit- 
uated that the swift descent of the swine into its waters seems im- 
possible. Thomsrn found the ruins of a town called Kersa or Gersa 
by the Arabs, of which he says • “ It was a small place, but the walls 
can be traced all round, and there seemed to have been considerable 
suburbs. I identify these ruins with the long-lost site of Gergesa, 
where our Lord healed the two men possessed with devils, and suf- 
fered those malignant spirits to enter into the herd of swine .” — Land 
and Book. vol. ii, p. 34. 



109 


The Demoniacs of Gergesa. 

Demons cast out. Flight of the swine. 

Impelled, probably, by a power higher than the 
demons which controlled them, these poor victims of 
Satanic force had quitted the mountain cemetery that 
morning, and were descending toward the shore when 
Jesus met them. No sooner had they come within 
hearing than our Lord said to the demons : — 

“ Come out of the men, ye unclean spirits 1 ” 

The demons quailed before his mighty word, and 
compelling their victims to fall reverently and trem- 
blingly at his feet, one of them cried : — 

“ What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of 
God \ art thou come hither to torment us before the 
time?” 

Jesus then asked the cringing demon his name. 
The foul spirit said it was “ Legion,” and seeing he 
must quit the man, begged permission to lead his in- 
fernal crew into a herd of swine, which was feeding 
on the green slope of the mountain before them. 

To this request Jesus, who saw no reason for pro- 
tecting the lives of beasts held to be unclean in Jew- 
ish law, gave the desired permission. Instantly they 
left the two human souls which they had so long en- 
slaved, and, entering into the beasts, impelled them, 
as by an impulse of terror, to rush wildly down the 
slope of the mountain, across the narrow strip of 
beach at its base, and into the waters of the lake, 
where they were speedily drowned. 


An affrighted people. 


A foolish request. 


The keepers of these swine, almost as much terri- 
fied as the beasts, ran swdftly in every direction, and 
with a bewildered air told every one they met their 
unheard-of story. The citizens of Gergesa, scarcely 
crediting what they heard, ran in crowds toward the 
beach. There, to their utter astonishment, they saw 
the recent demoniacs sitting clothed, and evidently 
sane, at the feet of Jesus. 

This unlooked-for scene amazed them. Its beauty 
ought to have charmed them. But, looking only on 
its supernatural side, they felt themselves in the pres- 
ence of One whose pow r er, if merciful to the demo- 
niacs, seemed terrible and destructive with regard to 
the swine. This view terrified them. They spoke to 
each other in whispers of fear, listened to the recitals 
of the swineherds, and finally, as if dreading some 
punitive display of power on the part of Jesus, hum- 
bly besought him to quit their territory. 

This was a foolish request. Nevertheless, Jesus, 
aware that their condition of mind unfitted them to 
profit by his preaching, turned his back upon them, 
and proceeded toward the vessel, which still awaited 
him on the beach. When he was about to step on 
board, the grateful demoniacs * begged permission to 
accompany him. But Jesus, desirous, probably, of 

* Matthew says there were two. Mark and Luke mention but one. 
“The common and most probable explanation is,” says Andrews in 


The Demoniacs of Gergesa. 


171 


Two grateful men. Jesus seeks repose. 

making himself and his mission known to the people 
in that part of the country, refused it, bidding them 
go to their respective homes and tell the story of their 
great recovery and of his compassion, to their friends 
and neighbors. Thoroughly appreciating the won- 
derful act of mercy by which they had been healed, 
these really grateful men cheerfully accepted this mis- 
sion. Bidding their deliverer adieu, they departed, 
and, with restless, loving zeal, told their glad story 
to the people of Decapolis, or the ten flourishing 
cities at that time existing in the country around 
the north-eastern shore of the Galilean lake. Many 
of these people were heathen, but both they and the 
Jews were greatly astonished as they listened to their 
narration of their marvelous deliverance. 

On returning to the opposite coast near Capernaum, 
our Lord found eager crowds of people waiting to 
receive him. But he dismissed them, probably be- 
cause, having had no food in the boat upon the lake, 
he was much wearied, and stood in great need of rest 
and refreshment. The body in which the Godhead 
dwelt was entirely human, and, therefore, our beloved 
Lord retired to his home in Capernaum to afford it 
opportunity to renew its strength. 

his “Life of Christ,” “that there were, indeed, two, but that one was 
much more prominent than the other, either as the fiercer of the two, 
or as of a higher rank and better known, and, therefore, alone men- 
tioned bv Mark and Luke.” 

10 ' 


172 


Our King. 


A party of reformed sinners. 


XLV. 

MATTHEW’S BANQUET IN HONOR OF HIS MASTER. 
[A. i>. at.] 



HORTLY after these events, probably in Novem- 


ber, Matthew, to express his high regard for 
Jesus, invited him to a sumptuous feast at his own 
house. Fully comprehending the humbleness of his 
great Master’s love, he invited, as fellow-guests, nu- 
merous persons who were either tax-gatherers or had 
been notorious sinners, but who were now respectful 
admirers, if not followers, of his Lord. XTo doubt 
those hungry souls were delighted by the:r Lord’s 
condescension in consenting to sit with them at Mat- 
thew’s banquet. Beyond question they profited by 
the divine words he dropped in the intervals of the 
feast. But the Pharisees, whose malicious eyes were 
always looking for occasions to lower Jesus in popu- 
lar estimation, took offense at the character of some 
of the guests, and when he was returning home with 
his twelve disciples, they sneeringly said to some of 
them : — 

“ Why does your Master eat with such fellows as 
tax-gatherers and sinners?” 

Jesus, hearing this querulous inquiry, turned toward 
them and answered : — 

“ For the same reason that a physician visits the 


Matthew's Banquet in Honor of his Master. 173 


A rebuff. An inquiry answered. 

sick. My mission is not to persons who fancy them- 
selves saints, but to men who, knowing themselves to 
be sinners, are ready to hear my call for repentance.” 

This rebuff appears to have silenced his haughty 
enemies. But other parties, sincerely questioning the 
fitness of his going to a feast on what would seem to 
have been a fast day of some sort, next approached 
him. These were some of the great Baptist’s old dis- 
ciples. They wished to know why Jesus did not 
teach his disciples to observe fasts, as did the Phari- 
sees, and as their old master had done. 

To this inquiry he gave answer, that there was no 
occasion for his disciples to fast at that time, since he 
was among them, like the bridegroom at a marriage 
feast. By and by he would be removed. Then they 
would fast, because their inward grief would take 
away their desire for food. Such were the fasts he 
approved, and not those formal, heartless ones prac- 
ticed by the Pharisees. To make their hollow-hearted 
ritualism a part of the spiritual service he had come 
to enforce among men, would be as useless and fool- 
ish as putting new fermenting wine into old bottles 
of skin which were sure to burst. 


174 


Our King. 


A soldier’s request. 


An afflicted woman. 


XLVI. 


A WOMAN CURED OF A CHRONIC DISEASE. 



CARCELY had Jesus finished his answer to the 


disciples of John, before a distinguished Jew, 
named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue at Capernaum, 
was seen forcing his way through the crowd. The 
man’s pale face and excited manner showed that his 
mind was greatly distressed. On reaching Jesus, he 
hastily but humbly prostrated himself at his feet, and 
in tones of deepest feeling said : — 

“ O Rabbi, my only little daughter lietli at the 
point of death. I pray thee come and save her 


life!” 


Pleased with this man’s humility and faith, our 
Lord consented to follow him home. The people, 
eager to witness the result, thronged about him so as 
to make it difficult to move. In the midst of the 
crowd was a poor woman who had suffered twelve 
long years from a disease which had baffled the skill 
of physicians, consumed her pecuniary resources, re- 
duced her body to a condition of extreme weakness, 
and brought her to the verge of despair. Her last 
hope was in Jesus, of whose wonderful deeds and 
tender compassion she had heard. She had dwelt 
upon these storied wonders until they had given birth 
to an unquestioning faith in her sensitive heart. How 


A Woman Cured of a Chronic Disease. 175 


Sublime faith. Trembling joy. 

long she had cherished this fond trust — how far she 
had traveled to find Jesus — we are not told. Our first 
view of her is in the midst of the surging crowd 
through which she is edging her way at the risk of 
being trampled to death. But with all her zeal, she 
cannot approach near enough to address him, but only 
to force her hand forward and touch the fringe of his 
mantle. This was enough for her trustful spirit, 
which fondly said to itself: — 

“ If I may but touch his clothes I shall be well.” 

With this sublime faith in her heart she succeeded 
in touching his mantle with her fingers. The effect 
was electric. In a moment the weakness caused by 
twelve years of wasting disease was gone, and she 
was conscious of possessing the fresh vigor of perfect 
health. 

Before she had time to give expression to her new- 
born joy, her spirit was chilled by a question from 
Jesus. He, the All-knowing, fully aware of what she 
had done, but desirous of honoring her faith, turned 
toward her and asked : — 

“Who touched me?” 

Several voices replied, “ I did not,” and then Peter, 
the impulsive disciple, almost rudely said : — 

“ The crowd throng you. It is impossible to say 
who touched you.” 

“ Somebody did touch me and has been healed,” 


170 


Ouk King. 


The reward of faith. 


A messenger of death. 


rejoined the Lord, looking upon the now trembling 
woman. 

She, seeing she was discovered, fell at his feet and 
told the touching story of her long-enduring sickness, 
and of her act of faith in his power. Then, perceiv- 
ing her terror lest he was offended, Jesus replied, in 
his divinely tender tones : — 

“ Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath 
made thee whole. Go in peace.” 

0 mighty faith! It commanded the healing power 
of our Lord on that eventful day. It commands his 
pardoning love to-day, and every guilty soul that 
touches him in the spirit of that afflicted woman ob- 
tains for itself pardon, peace, and purity. 


XLVII. 

A DEAD MAIDEN RESTORED TO LIFE. 



S our Lord was speaking sweet, gracious words 


to the now happy woman, a messenger came 
forcing his way through the crowd, and saying to the 
distressed father: — 

“ Your daughter is dead. You need not trouble 
the Teacher any further.” 

These words made Jairus sick at heart. His dis- 
torted features silently proclaim his grief, and move 
the overflowing pity of Jesus to say: — 


A Dead Maiden Restored to Life . 


ITT 


Hired mourners thrust from a death chamber. 

“ Be not afraid: believe only, and thy daughter 
shall be made whole.” 

Trusting in these assuring words, Jairus leads the 
way to his mansion. On arriving thither, Jesus took 
Peter and the brothers James and John, and entered 
the house. There he found the hired mourners* 
mingling their noisy lamentations with the relatives. 
Disgusted with this farcical proceeding, and deter- 
mined to make the certainty of the maiden’s death 
apparent even to his enemies, Jesus said : — 

“ Why make ye this ado? the maiden is not dead, 
but sleepeth.” 

The figurative words, intended mainly to help the 
trembling faith of the maiden’s father, were taken in 
their most literal sense by the mourning party. Some 
of them, “ knowing she was dead,” laughed scornfully 
at him. But he, assuming an air of divine authority 
to which they dared make no show of resistance, put 
them all out of the house. Their temper of mind 
unfitted them to be witnesses of the mighty deed he 


* The custom of hiring mourners is very ancient . . . and is ob- 
served on funeral occasions at the present day. There are in every 
city and community women exceedingly cunning in this business. 
These are always sent for and kept in readiness. When a fresh com- 
pany of sympathizers come in, these women make haste to take up 
a wailing, that the newly come may the more easily unite their tears 
with the mourners.” (Thomson’s “ Land and Book,' 1 vol. i, p. 146.) 
The Greeks and Romans, as well as the Jews, had hired mourners at 
funerals. 


178 


Our King. 


The dead maiden. Life restored. 

was about to do. Then, taking the father, mother, 
and his three disciples with him, he entered the cham- 
ber of the dead. 

“ The house w‘as now solitary and still. Two souls, 
believing and hopeful, stand like funeral tapers be- 
side the couch of 
the dead maiden 
— the father and 
the mother. His 
Church our Lord 
sees represented in 
his three most 
trusted 'apostles.” 
{Trench.') A n d 
now he takes the 
cold hand of the 
dead damsel in his own and says : — 

“ Damsel, arise ! ” 

The authority of these words is respected in the 
regions of the dead. Their gates silently open to per- 
mit the return of the maiden’s spirit to its earthly 
habitation. The touch of our Lord reanimates her 
body. In an instant her eyes open and look into the 
face of her great Restorer. Obeying his command, 
she sits up ; then quits her couch and walks about the 
room, a living, healthy girl. 

“ Give her something to eat,” says our Lord to the 



A Dead Maiden Restored to Life. 


179 


Speechless joy. 


Two blind men. 


astonished parents, who seem to have been looking in 
dumb wonder, first at their child, and then at the 
marvelous Being who had restored her to life. 

Without waiting for their recovery from this state 
of speechless astonishment, Jesus charged them not 
to give general publicity to the deed they had wit- 
nessed, and then left the house. He did not wish the 
wondrous fact to excite the people, lest their loving 
but mistaken enthusiasm should prompt them to pro- 
claim him David’s son and successor. But such a 
fact could not be concealed. The report of it spread 
like wild-fire in all directions, greatly intensifying, no 
doubt, the interest he excited among all classes. 


XLVIII. 

TWO BLIND MEN RECEIVE THE GIFT OF SIGHT. 



HE marvels of that eventful day were not yet 


completed. Ho sooner was he in the street 


again, than the cries of two blind men saluted his 
ears, saying : — 

“ Thou son of David, have mercy on us ! ” 

The people had once asked concerning Jesus, “ Ts 
not this the son of David ? ” but these blind men were 
the first who . had ever addressed him as the repre- 
sentative of that royal house. Perhaps it was for this 


180 


Our King. 


Faith and gratitude. 

reason that he appeared to give no attention to their 
cries as he passed along the street. He would not, 
by acknowledging his right to that title, excite the 
people to an attempt to proclaim him king. Or, it 
may have been only to test the strength of their faith 
that he was silent. But the blind men had an urgent 
case, and they followed him into his residence. Then 
Jesus asked them: — 

“Do you believe that I am able to give you 
sight?” 

u Yes, Lord,” is their prompt and hearty reply. 

Then, touching their eyes with his fingers, he said, 
“According to your faith be it unto you.” 

They had faith, and his touch brought them instant 
sight. While they gazed upon him with speechless 
gladness, he bade them not to report their cure, and 
then dismissed them. But as soon as they left his 
presence their gratitude overflowed the barrier of his 
command, and they spread the story of their cure all 
round the country. 


A Dumh Demon Cast Out. 


181 


A peculiar wonder. 


Desperate men. 


XLIX. 


A DUMB DEMON CAST OUT. 



TILL another sufferer was then led unto Jesus 


by his friends. This was a demoniac whom an 
evil spirit had smitten with dumbness. A word 
from the Lord drove out the foul demon and restored 
his victim’s speech. As this recovered demoniac went 
forth with a sound mind and a loosed tongue, the mul- 
titude, highly excited by the unwonted spectacle, cried 
one to another : — 

“ It was never so seen in Israel ! ” 

The peculiar wonder in this case (as also in that 
of the blind and dumb maniac before mentioned) 
was, as Dr. Kitto suggests, that since the dumb 
are usually deaf also, the words of exorcism could 
be heard by the possessing demon only. Hence 
such cases were deemed beyond the reach of cure. 
When, therefore, the people beheld these cures they 
felt that Jesus was indeed the master of demons. 
What then could he be, they asked, but a mighty 
prophet? But the Pharisees, seeing this effect on 
public opinion, and unable to deny the fact of the 
man’s cure, repeated their old absurd blasphemy, and 
sneeringly affirmed : — 

“ He casteth out devils by the prince of devils.” 

O desperate men ! Passion had so blinded their 


182 


Our King. 


Triumph of party feeling. 


Back to Nazareth. 


eyes and hardened their hearts, that, although Mes- 
siah walked among them in the full blaze of miracu- 
lous glory, they could see nothing in him but a low- 
born Nazarene deserving a violent death. Their 
hatred was grounded in their perception of an irrecon- 
cilable antagonism between the character and teach-, 
ings of Jesus and the spirit and ideas of their sect. 
If Jesus triumphed their party must perish. Hence 
to save their sect, by destroying our Lord, appeared 
to their partisan eyes a religious duty. Party loyalty 
had usurped the place of allegiance to God, and un- 
fitted them for the sincere pursuit of truth. 


L. 


JESUS VISITS NAZARETH FOR THE LAST TIME. 


[A. D. 8?.] 



HOKTLY after these events in Capernaum (in 


December, probably) it pleased our Lord to re- 
visit the village in which the greater part of his life 
had been spent. Hearly eleven months had passed 
since the ungenerous Hazareneshad violently expelled 
him from this home of his youth. Since then his 
marvelous miracles and singular teaching had given 
him a national reputation. His name had become a 
household word throughout the land. In Galilee he 


Jesus Visits Nazareth for the Last Time. 18B 


Popularity of Jesus. Scorn of the Nazarenes. 

was immensely popular. The people generally re- 
garded him with reverence, if not with love. It was 
reasonable, therefore, to expect that his townsmen, 
proud of his fame, would now receive him with re- 
spect, if not with honor. 

But when Jesus appeared in their synagogue and 
uttered those pure, simple, authoritative words which 
distinguished his teaching, they showed their old 
spirit. It was not manifested as before by acts of 
violence, but by sneers and scornful words. What 
does this carpenter’s son mean ? He would fain have 
us believe that he is a mighty prophet. But we know 
him. We have seen him working at his trade. We 
know his mother, his brothers, and his sisters. There 
is nothing in their position to justify him in making 
such pretensions. 

Thus they murmured to one another. Jesus made 
no other response than to remind them, that during 
his last visit he had told them he expected no such 
honor from them as he received elsewhere. They had 
been too familiar with his humble presence and con- 
dition in the past to endure his present superiority. 
Their spirit pained, but did not surprise, him. 

So bitter was their temper that they would not 
bring him their afflicted friends to be healed, lest 
their scorn should be shamed by the luster of his 
deeds. A few, wiser and more generous than the 


184 


Our King. 


Magnanimity of Jesus. The mission of the twelve. 

majority of* these churlish Nazarenes, did, however, 
bring him their sick. With a noble magnanimity, 
which ought to have tinged the cheeks of his enemies 
with blushes of shame, Jesus touched them, and their 
diseases fled. He then turned his back upon the 
ungracious city for the last time, wondering at its 
unbelief, which had no other ground than a foolish 
prej udice. 


LI. 

CHRIST’S THIRD TOUR IN GALILEE. 

[A. D. 28.] 

i T was now early in January, probably — a very 
pleasant season of the year, in which the south 
and south-west winds begin to blow, and to bring 
soft rain and warm weather. Jesus improves it, and 
makes a third tour of his favorite province, Galilee, 
scattering gifts of healing, and heavenly words still 
more precious, with a profusion as unstinted as the 
sunshine and rain, which were making the land beau- 
tiful and fruitful. 

While on this tour Jesus, for the first time, sent out 
his chosen twelve to announce the near coming of his 
Messianic kingdom. They were to visit the towns 
of Galilee, avoiding Samaria and towns occupied by 
a Gentile population. To give weight to their 


Christ’ s Third Tour in Galilee. 


185 


Divine gifts to the twelve. Sad tidings. 

announcement, he conferred upon them the power to 
work miracles — a thing incredible except on the ad- 
mission that this man, so completely human on one side 
of his nature, was also divine on the other. His ob- 
ject in sending out these men was partly to give wider 
influence to his own immediate work among the peo- 
ple, and partly to prepare the disciples themselves for 
the work of spreading his Gospel, which was to be 
committed to them a year or two later. 

Having sent these men away with suitable instruc- 
tions, our Lord continued* his own tour in Galilee, 
attended, probably, by other disciples and by the dis- 
tinguished women who so gladly ministered to his 
wants. 


LII. 

THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

[A. I>. 88.] 

f OWARD the end of this tour, in the month of 
March, perhaps, some of the great baptizer’s dis- 
ciples came to Jesus from the Castle of Macherus, in 
Perea, with very sad tidings concerning their old 
master. As already stated, Herod had imprisoned 
John in this castle because he had bravely pronounced 
his marriage with Herodias unlawful. For this, that 


IS G 


Our King. 


A monarch's fear. A queen’s vengeance. 

vile woman cherished a malicious purpose to bring 
about the Baptist’s death. Perhaps she feared that 
his opinion might one day induce her capricious hus- 
band to cast her off. But Herod, though passionate!}' 
fond of his wicked wife, was restrained by his respect 
for the stern baptizer’s character and reputation from 
yielding to her vile wishes in this thing. Her venge- 
ance was sleepless, however, and she nursed it with 
the expectation that an opportunity would arise at 
some time for its execution. 

In this she was not disappointed. There came a 
day on which Herod gave a .grand birthday feast to 
the magnates of his kingdom, in a summer palace at 
Julias, probably, not far from the castle in which 
John was confined. This was the hour long desired 
by Herodias. She had a beautiful, fascinating daugh- 
ter, named Salome. While the feast was in progress, 
and when Herodias knew her husband was well heat- 
ed with wine, she sent Salome into the festal chamber 
to amuse him and his guests with a solo mimic dance. 
The king was charmed. His courtiers, not doubtino- 
that Herodias had prepared this part of the entertain- 
ment with some sinister design, applauded the girl 
vehemently. Herod, carried beyond the bounds of 
prudence by the excitement of the moment, addressed 
the fascinating girl during one of the pauses of the 
dance, and said : — 


The Death of John the Baptist. 


187 


An unmaidenly request A despotic order. 

“ Ask me whatsoever you will and I will give it 
you.” 

Seeing, possibly, that Salome gazed incredulously 
upon him, he repeated this offer with an oath. She, 
no doubt in obedience to her mother’s wish previous- 
ly expressed, glided from the king’s presence to the 
queen’s chamber to ask for further instruction. Hav- 
ing received it, she returned speedily and said : — 

“Give me at once the head of John the Baptist in 
a dish ! ” 

To this unmaidenly request the king for a few mo- 
ments made no answer. He was vexed. He regret- 
ted his promise. His respect for John, and his fear 
lest his execution 
should give occa- 
sion to popular tu- 
mult, inclined him 
to refuse. But at 
length his super- 
stitious regard for 
his oath, and his 
unwillingness to 
shame the dancer 
before his guests, 
prevailed. Sadly he gave the despotic order, and in 
a short time the ghastly dish was placed in Salome’s 

hands. The girl gave it to her mother, who, accord- 
11 



Faithful love. 


Grief of Jesus. 


ing to a tradition which one can scarcely credit, 
drew forth the still palpitating tongue which had 

censured her crime 
and pierced it with 
a bodkin ! 

In striking con- 
trast with this fright- 
ful scene was the 
coming of some of 
John’s disciples, the 
next day, probably, 
to the castle, asking 
for their late mas- 
ter’s headless body. 
There was peril in 
this act, but they braved it nobly. Having obtained 
permission of the keepers, they bore it lovingly away, 
and, while embalming it with their tears, laid it in a 
tomb. Knowing the deceased Baptist’s high regard 
for Jesus, they hastened to Galilee and reported the 
sad fate of his great forerunner. 

How Jesus received this information is not re- 
corded. It was no surprise to him, for, being the 
All-knowing One, he was fully aware of the fact be- 
fore it was reported to him. Doubtless he was 
grieved both by the fate of John and the wickedness 
of Herod. This much is certain, however, Herod’s 



The Death of John the Baptist. 


189 


A startling report. A guilty king’s opinion. 

attention was shortly after particularly called to the 
marvelous works of Jesus. This occurred probably 
when, leaving Perea, the scene of the cruel murder, 
he returned to Tiberias, his usual residence in Galilee. 
The effect of what his courtiers reported concerning 
the mighty works of Jesus was to fill his blood- 
stained conscience with remorse and fear, and he 
said, “He must be John the Baptist risen from the 
dead.” 

Thinking, perhaps, to relieve the guilty despot’s 
fear, some of his obsequious courtiers suggested that 
Jesus was Elijah or some other prophet risen from the 
dead. But his guilty heart, hoping to find comfort in 
the belief that John had come back from the dead, 
moved him to settle this courtly controversy by say- 
ing, with a positiveness which permitted no contra- 
diction : — 

“ It is John whom I beheaded. He is risen from 
the dead.” 

And then, as if to illustrate the greatness of his 
audacity, he added : — 

“ I should like to see this Jesus, and so decide for 
myself whether he be John or not.” 


190 


Our King. 


Return of the twelve. 


Seeking repose. 


LIII. 

JESUS FEEDS FIVE THOUSAND PERSONS. 

LA. D. 28.] 

a ^ 011 ^ ^ ie same time the twelve disciples, hav- 
ing finished their mission, returned to meet 
their Master, according to previous appointment, at 
Capernaum. The} 7 reported their success, but do not 
appear to have been in a jubilant spirit. It is not un- 
likely that the report of the great Baptist’s execution 
had cast a vail of sadness over their spirits. Possibly 
their knowledge that his unprincipled murderer de- 
sired to see their Master added to their depression. 
Moreover, they needed repose, and the immense 
crowds drawn together by curiosity and by desire for 
instruction made this impossible at Capernaum. See- 
ing all this, Jesus proposed to his disciples that they 
should cross the lake, and find quiet and repose in a 
desert which lay a little to the south-east of Bethsaida. 

Acceding to this proposal, the disciples prepared a 
boat and departed with their Lord as privately as pos- 
sible. Crossing the lake in a north-easterly direction, 
they landed in a little cove at a spot now known as 
Butaiha.* Leaving the vessel, they started to cross 

* Thomson, in “ The Land and the Book,” is very positive that this 
was the spot on which the great event next to be related occurred. 
He says, vol. ii. p. 29, all the requisites of the narrative “ are found 
in this exact locality, and nowhere else, so far as I can discover.” 


Jesus Feeds Five Thousand Persons. 191 


An eager multitude. A day of merciful deeds. 

“ a smooth grassy spot ” of considerable extent, to 
ascend the corner of the mountain, which is here 
“ bleak and barren,” where was the desert place they 
desired. 

But it was to be no place of rest for them or their 
Master. The crowd, having guessed the place of 
their retirement, had gone round by the head of the 
lake in vast numbers. When, therefore, Jesus left the 
landing-place in the little cove, he saw thousands of 
eager people thronging the grassy spot beyond. The 
spectacle, instead of vexing him, moved his compas- 
sionate heart to pity. Yearning over them, as if they 
were a vast flock of untended sheep, he passed on to 
the base of the mountain, and seating himself on a 
suitable eminence preached oue of his divine sermons. 
At the close of his discourse he invited those who 
needed healing to come to him. They did so, and 
in the fullness of his power he scattered his healing 
gifts among them as a merely human monarch might 
scatter golden coins among his people. 

This work of mercy consumes the bland spring day, 
until the sun is sinking in the blue waters of the Med- 
iterranean Sea. The crowd lingers, for the spell of 
his power is upon them. The wearied apostles gath- 
er round their Lord and beg him to dismiss the reluc- 
tant multitude, that they may go to the adjacent vil- 
lages and procure refreshment. 


192 


Our Kin u. 


Dull disciples. An unheard-of spectacle. 

No,” says Jesus, filled with pity for the hungry, 
exhausted people. u Give ye them to eat.” 

The amazed disciples, taking only a human view 
of the question, ask him if he wishes them to go and 
buy bread for this purpose. Turning to the matter- 
of-fact Philip, for the purpose of lifting him from his 
earthly ideas to a conception of his own grand pur- 
pose, he replied by asking: — 

“ Philip, whence shall we buy bread that these may 
eat ? ” 

Still dull, and without apprehension of his Lord’s 
great idea, he replied : — 

“ Two hundred denarii (about $30) would scarcely 
buy enough to give each a morsel.” 

“ Well,” responded Jesus, u how much bread have 
ye ? Go and see ! ” 

Five barley loaves and two small fishes make up 
the whole supply to be found in that vast assembly. 
Too little for the pretense of a banquet, if Jesus be a 
mere man. More than sufficient, if he be God in 
human flesh. That this is his exalted character is 
soon proven by a spectacle the like of which eye of 
man had never seen before. The people, by his com- 
mand, sit down upon the abundant greensward in 
twelve platoons of about five hundred each. Then, 
after solemnly blessing the barley loaves and the 
fishes, our almighty Lord began to break this handful 











. 



\ 


Gathering the Fragments 





Jesus Feeds Five Thousand Persons. 195 


A mighty miracle. An enthusiastic cry. 

of food, and it became exhaustless under his creative 
touch. The oftener he broke the greater was the 
quantity remain- 
ing, until the as- 
tonished disciples 
had carried away 
sufficient to satisfy 
the wants of all. 

And then the frag 
ments, being col- 
lected, were suffi- 
cient to fill twelve 
baskets! 

This was indeed a mighty miracle — an act of crea- 
tive force — which had for its witnesses “five thousand 
men, besides women and children.” No wonder that, 
as they journeyed homeward that evening, they cried 
to one another with exultant hearts : — 

“Surely this is that prophet who is to come into 
the world ! ” 

This enthusiastic cry boded ill to the spiritual plans 
of Jesus, because it was the expression of a purpose 
on the part of the people to proclaim him Israel’s 
long-expected king. His act of* creating so much food 
had, no doubt, reminded them of those grand historic 
days in which their ancestors were fed with manna. 
With such a king what had they to fear? He could 



196 


Our King. 


A positive command. 

create food, heal sickness, control demons, raise the 
dead. Master of men and Lord of nature, he surely 
could enable them to break the Koman yoke, as Moses 
had enabled their fathers to triumph over Pharaoh 
and the kings of the desert. They would, therefore, 
compel him to accept the crown of David’s imperial 
line. 

To prevent them from attempting this rash act, 
with which it is quite likely his warm-hearted but 
still spiritually dull disciples were in too full sympa- 
thy, Jesus ordered the twelve to go on board their 
vessel and sail at once for Capernaum, while he sent 
the excited multitude into the nearest villages. As 
Thomson supposes, (see “ The Land and the P>ook,” 
voh ii, p. 30,) his disciples remonstrated against leav- 
ing him to spend the night alone on the mountain, al- 
ready chilled with the cold air of a coming storm, 
or to take the long walk round the head of the lake, 
by way of Bethsaida, to his home at Capernaum in 
the morning. To quiet their anxieties, it is likely, he 
bade them sail to Bethsaida and await him there. 
Still they were reluctant to leave, and did so finally 
only in obedience to his positive commands. 


Jesus Walks on the Water. 


197 


Alone on the mountain. 


A storm on the lake. 


LIV. 


JESUS WALKS ON THE WATER. 



HILE they were coasting slowly along the 


jJJp lake toward Bethsaida onr Lord prevailed 
on the people to leave the scene of the recent miracle 
and seek lodgings in the villages whicli were more or 
less distant. They, seeing that his boat was gone and 
that he intended to spend the night in the mountain, 
dispersed, fully intending, no doubt, to return early 
in the morning and compel him to be their king. As 
the last of that lingering crowd disappeared in the 
dim distance, our adorable Lord ascended to a lonely 
spot on the mountain, where he enjoyed one of those 
quiet seasons of communion with his Father which 
were so rich in strength and refreshing to his much- 
wearied human soul. 

During the night a rough, contrary wind had pre- 
vented his disciples from reaching Bethsaida, and 
compelled them to steer for Capernaum, past which 
they were driven by the fury of the wind in the di- 
rection of Gennesareth. Toward daybreak Jesus, full 
of sympathy for his toiling and discouraged disciples, 
whose boat might be dimly seen through the morning 
mist tossing upon the restless waves, went to their 
relief. Not as one man might go to his fellows did 
lie o*o but as the Lord of nature to deliver his dis- 


ms 


Our King. 


A new fact in the world’s history. 

tressed creatures. He walked upon the sea, which 
became like unyielding marble wherever trodden by 
his sacred feet. 

Mile after mile he walked upon the waves. He 
approached the vessel. The disciples we*e terrified, 
as well they might be, so long as they looked only on 
the human side of the spectacle before them. It was 
a new fact in the world’s history. Some of their an- 
cient prophets had divided waters, but no one of them 
had walked upon them as Jesus was doing. They 
recognized his w T ell-knowm form, but, supposing it 
must be his ghost, exclaimed in the half whispers of 
terror : — 

“ It is a spirit ! It is a spirit ! ” 

Then, breaking through the mists of the morning, 
came the Master’s human voice, saying in assuring 
tones : — 

“ Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid ! ” 

The power of these loving words so calmed their 
fears that one of them, Peter, the impulsive man of 
the band, replied : — 

“ Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the 
water.” 

“Come,” responded his indulgent, but mighty, 
Master. 

Peter never showed a grander faith than when, in 
obedience to that word, he stepped from that unsteady 


Jesus Walks on the Water. 


199 


Faith and fear. Two fresh deeds of power. 

bark upon the unsteadier waves, and began walking 
toward Jesus. “ But,” says Lange, “it seemed as 
if the howling 
wind w r anted to 
try him, •for it 
blew more vio- 
lently. The dis- 
ciple began to re- 
flect, to waver in 
his heart, and then 
to sink. The lofty 
water- reader be- 
came a fearful 
swimmer, who could hardly keep himself above 
water, shrieking out, ‘Lord, save me!’” 

With benignant majesty Jesus stooped, and tak- 
ing his outstretched hand, said, with half rebuking 
tenderness : — 

u O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou 
doubt ? ” 

Happy Peter ! His hand is now within his Mas- 
ter’s grasp. His doubts are gone. Fearlessly he 
walks to the vessel. Together they step on board, 
when, lo ! two more deeds of might increase the 
amazement of the band. There is a sudden calm, 
and their vessel has reached the shore ! 

Startled, almost appalled, indeed, by this fresh 



200 


Our King. 


A fitting tribute. A fertile plain. 

display of power, which brought them into such close 
proximity to the divine nature in Jesus, these twelve 
men whose dull minds had failed to see the majesty 
of his divinity in the miracle of the loaves, now bowed 
before him, and as reverent worshipers exclaimed : — 
u Of a truth thou art the Son of God ! ” 

This was a most befitting tribute if Jesus was “ God 
manifest in the flesh ; ” if he was man only, it was 
criminal folly, and in accepting it Jesus was either a 
fanatic or an impostor. But no fanatic or impostor 
ever did or could do such superhuman deeds as Jesus 
did. That these deeds were real, thousands upon 
thousands bore witness. He was God, therefore, and 
could rightfully receive such worship as his disciples 
paid him on that eventful morning, and at sundry 
other times. 


LV. 

A MARCH OF MERCY THROUGH GENNESARETH. 

[A. D. 28.] 

S HEY had landed at Gennesareth, a beautiful and 
fertile plain three miles long, and running back 
some two miles from the lake shore. It abounded in 
walnuts, grapes, and figs, was well watered and 
densely populated. Ho sooner did the people living 
near the shore learn that Jesus was among them, 


A March of Mercy through Gennesareth. 201 


The majesty of Christ. A perplexed multitudes 

than they sent messengers in every direction to pub- 
lish the news. The effect of this announcement was 
electrical. The inhabitants, as if moved by a com- 
mon impulse, forsook their employments, and taking 
their sick with them, flocked to see the mighty Healer. 
He, with his usual benignity, healed all that were 
brought to him. As lie passed, on his way to Caper- 
naum, through the numerous villages which dotted 
that lovely plain, he found the sick placed where they 
might touch him as he went through the narrow 
streets. He honored their simple faith, and his healing 
power restored every one who only touched the fringe 
of his dress. This divine force went out freely from 
his sacred person. The majesty of his Godhead shone 
out through the humbleness of his manhood, fulfill- 
ing the prediction uttered by the prophet centuries 
before, that he should be “ called wonderful.” 


LVI. 

THE PEOPLE FORSAKE JESUS. 

(p)UT while Jesus is making this march of mercy 
through the plain of Gennesareth, the excited 
witnesses of his food creating power have returned 
to Butaiha, intending to make him king. Great is 
their perplexity when they find that he is gone. 


202 


Our King. 


An impertinent question. A pungent question. 

“ There was no boat here after his disciples sailed,” 
they say to one another. “ What can have become 
of him ? ” But numerous boats coming in from Beth- 
saida, loaded with people who had heard of the last 
evening’s miracle, they conclude that he has crossed 
the lake in some early boat. Supposing he has gone 
home to Capernaum, they too cross the lake in pur- 
suit of him. 

They do not find him that day, his labors on the 
plain having probably prevented his arrival home un- 
til evening. The next day is the Sabbath, and then 
they find him in the synagogue. Some of them ap- 
proach him and ask : — 

“Rabbi, when did you come to Capernaum ?” 

This impertinent question Jesus leaves unanswered. 
But knowing theft selfish purpose to proclaim him 
king, and resolved not to permit his spiritual mission 
to be hindered by such a dangerous procedure, he 
utters a discourse (see John vi, 26-65) which unmasks 
them, by exposing the selfishness of their motives, 
and sets forth the fixedness of his purpose to found, 
not a temporal, but a purely spiritual kingdom. 

So pungent is tins rebuke, and so clearly do these 
bread-seekers perceive that they can gain from this 
mysterious man no permanent supply of temporal 
food, no exercise of miraculous power for the founding 
of an earthly throne, that they take serious offense. 


The People Forsake Jesus. 


203 


Idle imaginations dissolved. 

They object to his claim that lie had come down from 
heaven, the known humility of his supposed parent- 
age. They murmur at the seeming mysticism of his 
language. They rebel against his assertion that the 
manna given in the desert was only a type of himself, 
and that eternal life can only come to them through 
eating his body and drinking his blood. They can- 
not comprehend the 
pure spirituality of 
his coming king- 
dom. But what 
they can see is, that, 
their hope of fore 
ing Jesus to found 
a human kingdom, 
which is to trans 
form their country 
into a terrestrial 
Eden, defended by more than cherubic swords, and 
supplied with food by a perpetuation of the preceding 
evening’s miracle, was an idle imagination. Instead 
of these perishable things which they do want, Jesus 
offers them a spiritual and eternal life which they do 
not desire. Hence they turn away from him with 
unconcealed disgust. They will follow him no more. 



204 : 


Our King. 


The people forsake Jesus. 


A noble confession. 


LVII. 


FIDELITY OF THE APOSTOLIC TWELVE, 



O general is this defection, so apparent is his sud- 


den loss of popularity, that Jesus, who yesterday 


might have made himself a king amid the plaudits 
of unnumbered thousands, finds himself standing 
almost alone. The spectacle saddens his heart. Not 
on his own account, however, but because, by for- 
saking him, his recent followers have done themselves 
immeasurable injury. It is for them, not for himself, 
he mourns. Then, as if to test the fidelity of his 
chosen twelve, he looks upon them with an inquiring 
glance, and asks : — 

i6 Will ye also go away ? ” 

Peter, impulsive as he is sincere, promptly speaks 
the thought of the still faithful twelve by asking: — 
“ Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words 
of eternal life. . We believe and are sure that thou 
art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

This noble confession proves that the recent mira- 
cles of our Lord had prepared the twelve to profit by 
the profound setting forth of the nature of his king- 
dom which had fallen with such offense on the ears 
of more selfish men. It had enlarged the spiritual 
conceptions of all but one of them. The enigmatical 
man of the little band, Judas, though he still remained 


Fidelity of the Apostolic Twelve. 


205 


A selfish disciple. An expectation disappointed. 

with his Master, was in heart estranged from him. 
Jesus, to whom all human. hearts were an open book, 
knew his secret thoughts, and exposed them by 
saying : — 

“ Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is 
a devil ?” 

Did Judas know that this remark was intended for 
him ? Probably not. He was conscious that his 
heart rebelled against the w^ords he had heard that 
morning, but nothing more. He may have felt in- 
clined to leave his Lord, but his dark mind, fascinated 
by the miracles he witnessed, was nevertheless still 
bound to him b} T the secret hope that in the end Jesus 
would restore David’s ancient throne, and elevate him 
to some profitable post in his kingdom. Judas was 
a thoroughly selfish man. 


LVIIL 

JESUS EXPOSES THE FOLLY AND FALSEHOOD OF 
PHARISAISM. 

[A. I». 88.1 

S HE third passover since the entrance of Jesus 
upon his public ministry was now near at hand. 
It was expected that he would make his annual visit 
to Jerusalem to celebrate that ancient feast. But he 
remained in Galilee because he was aware that the 


206 


Our King. 


8pies questioning Jesus. Stern rebukes. 

priestly hierarchy in the Holy City were intent on 
taking his life. 

Finding that he had not been present at the pass- 
over toward the end of March, his relentless enemies 
sent a deputation to Capernaum early in April to 
watch his movements. These spies upon his conduct 
happened one day to see his disciples sit down to eat 
without first washing their hands in the precise man- 
ner prescribed by traditional rules. Rightly suppos- 
ing that Jesus approved their disregard of ceremonial 
washings, they, with official insolence, demanded his 
reasons for encouraging this neglect of custom re- 
spected by every pious Jew. 

Knowing that malice inspired their tongues, he 
answered sternly ; boldly denouncing them as hypo- 
crites, and proving, by appeals to their well known 
practice, that in their zeal for human traditions they 
trampled the word of God under their feet. Then, 
turning to the people, he asserted that human defile- 
ment is not contracted by contact with outward ob- 
jects, but from the evil thoughts and purposes which 
arise from within the heart. (See Mark vii, 1-16.) 
This radical declaration, which struck at the very 
root of Pharisaism, increased the bitterness of his 
enemies and astonished his disciples. 

After illustrating this truth privately to the latter, 
by showing them that human vices have their seat 


Jesus Exposes Pharisaism. 


207 


Jesus at Phenicia. Reasons for quitting Galilee. 

and origin in the heart, and not in external things 
which do not enter the heart, he quietly left Caper- 
naum. Rapidly crossing the province of Galilee in 
a northwesterly direction, to the borders of Phenicia, 
he entered a house, requesting that his arrival might 
not be made public. 

The motives of our Lord in making this journey to 
a section which he had probably never visited before, 
and which was less densely populated than other por- 
tions of Galilee, though not stated, may be readily 
inferred. The avowed purpose of the people to make 
him king had very likely reached the ears of Herod, 
and had he continued to move from place to place 
followed by enthusiastic multitudes, that jealous mon- 
arch might have sought to arrest him. It was also 
possible that the enthusiasm of the people, though 
chilled by his late plain disavowals of any intention 
to set up a visible throne, might be rekindled, embroil 
him with the civil authorities, and thus “ leave a stain 
and suspicion upon his name and objects, of which 
the enemies of his cause in all ages would not fail 
to take advantage.” Finally, his priestly enemies at 
Capernaum might attempt to take his life. Retire- 
ment to a distance for a time was a natural means 
of avoiding these dangers, and not choosing to em- 
ploy supernatural ones, he went away to the coasts 
of Tyre and Sidon, that is, of Phenicia. 


208 


Our King. 


A heathen woman’s request. 


A test of faith. 


LIX. 

CHRIST DOES A MOST MARVELOUS DEED. 


[A. D. 88.] 



S)UT to remain unknown even there was impossi- 


ble for so distinguished a personage. The fact 
of his presence was soon noised abroad, and one day 
as he was walking out with his disciples, a heathen 
woman, whose daughter was a demoniac, followed 
him, saying in beseeching tones : — 

“ Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David ; 
my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil ! ” 

To this piteous cry Jesus returned no answer. Hot 
that his tender heart was untouched, or that he re- 
quired further entreaty to move his compassion. He 
onl} T wished to make the faith which he saw in the 
heart of this Gentile woman conspicuous in the eyes 
of his disciples. As Jews they were inclined to look 
on Gentiles with haughty spiritual contempt, but they 
had evidently begun to partake of their Lord’s large- 
heartedness, for when they saw his apparent in- 
difference to her agonizing cries, they became her 
advocates, begging him to grant her request. To test 
the strength of their Christian feeling he replied : — 

“ I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house 
of Israel.” 

Before they could respond to this statement of the 


Christ Does a Most Marvelous Deed . 209 


Persistent entreaty. A rebuff. 

limitation of his personal mission, the woman, im- 
pelled by the intensity of maternal love, lies at his 
feet, with clasped hands and uplifted eyes, pleading: — 

“ Lord, help me ! 

Lord, help me ! ” 

“ It is not meet to 
take the children’s 
bread and cast it un- 
to dogs,” replied Je- 
sus, still aiming to 
bring her great faith 
into high relief. She 
knew that the Jews 
habitually spoke of 
Gentiles as dogs. It 
is wonderful that her 
Gentile pride did not revolt against the opprobrious 
term, and that, dropping as it did from the lips of Je- 
sus, it did not extinguish her faith. We love to think 
that the tone, the expression, the eye of our Lord 
told the heart of this suppliant mother that Gen- 
tiles were not dogs to him, but that he prized a be- 
lieving Gentile more than he did an unbelieving Jew. 
Hence with profound humility and sublime faith she 
rejoined : — 

“ Truth, Lord. Yet the dogs under the table eat 
of the children’s crumbs.” 



210 


Our King. 


Triumphant faith. Jesus in Decapolis. 

This woman’s all-conquering faith had its immedi- 
ate reward. Onr Lord’s countenance grew radiant 
with the beautiful, softened majesty of love as he 
replied : — 

“ O woman, great is thy faith ; for this saying go 
thy way : the devil is gone out of thy daughter.” 

With an undoubting heart the happy mother has- 
tened home, where her eyes were gladdened with the 
sight of her restored child, reclining in sweet serenity 
upon her couch. The demon had obeyed the Lord’s 
will though he saw not his person. The mind which 
fails to see omnipotent power in this stupendous mir- 
acle must be indeed blind. 


LX. 

OUR LORD IN PARTIAL RETIREMENT. 

• [A. d. as.] 

r j Tji T GW long our Lord remained in partial retire- 
ment is not known. Probably not more than 
a few weeks. For early in May we find him travers- 
ing the wild country north of Galilee to Decapolis, a 
territory which “ lay for the most part east of the Jor- 
dan and the Sea of Galilee,” and was inhabited by 
Gentiles. Of his thoughts while traversing the w T aste 
solitudes along the foot of famed Lebanon and snow- 


Our Lord in Partial Retirement. 


211 


Golden words. A deaf man. 

dad Hermon we know nothing. Doubtless they 
were in sad harmony with the persecutions and suf- 
ferings of his last days, the dark shadows of which 
were already beginning to cover his steps with gloom. 


LXI. 

A DEAF AND PARTIALLY DUMB MAN HEALED. 

[A. D. 88.] 

T some point in Decapolis Jesus, finding him- 
self once more followed by crowds of people, 
seated himself one day on a mountain slope, and 
spoke some of his golden words, richly instructive 
to souls thirsting 
for spiritual know- 
ledge. When clos- 
ing his discourse, 
a poor deaf man, 
who was also hard- 
ly able to speak, 
was brought to 
him to be healed. 

Contrary to his 
common practice, 
he took this poor creature aside from the multitude 
for the purpose, apparently, of speaking to him by 




212 


Our King. 


Healing power. The people’s amazement. 

signs. First, lie put his fingers into his ears ; next he 
formed a bit of clay, by mixing his spittle with the 
dust at his feet, and applied a morsel of it to the 
man’s tongue. He then lifted his eyes to heaven, 
thus teaching him, in the only way possible at that 
moment and place, that he must trust in divine power 
for a cure. The man’s faith silently responding to 
these signs, Jesus sighed as if oppressed with the 

thought of the evils sin 
had brought upon the 
race he had come to 
save, and said : — 

‘ k Be opened ! ” 
Instantly the ears of 
the now happy man 
could hear the sweet 
melodies of nature and 
the sweeter music of 
the human voice. His 
tongue also was set 
free, and he gladdened 
the ears of his friends with words plainly and readily 
spoken. 

Seeing how this miracle excited the amazement of 
the people, and feeling still desirous of avoiding a re- 
newal of that universal enthusiasm which so nearly 
brought on insurrection, in his favor a few weeks be- 



A Deaf and Partially Dumb Man Healed. 213 


Popular enthusiasm. Three days in a solitary place. 

fore, he bade the invalid and his friends not to report 
the wonderful cure. This command their gratitude 
forbade them to keep. The story spread far and near. 
Popular enthusiasm ran like fire through dry grass. 
The sick of all diseases were brought in great num- 
bers and laid at his feet. His compassionate heart 
responded w T itli infinite bountifulness to their necessi- 
ties, and he healed them all. 

This heathen multitude became exultant in pres- 
ence of these divine facts, and they exclaimed to one 
another ; — 

u He makes every body well again ! ” 

Thus, says Lange, “ did the ever fresh divine 
works of Christ overcome the stupidity of the people, 
and constrain them with astonishment to glorify God.” 


LXII. 

A MIRACULOUS FEAST TO A VAST MULTITUDE. 

§ 0 intense was the interest of the multitude that, 
forgetful of every thing but Jesus and his works, 
they remained in that solitude three days, listening to 
his words and beholding his peerless deeds. It was 
then necessary for them to go to their homes, since 
the food they had brought with them, in their scrips 


Peevish miracles. 


A notable miracle. 


or wallets, was exhausted. Jesus, knowing that many 
of them had far to go, and that they were likely to 
faint by the way if sent to their homes fasting, re- 
solved to feed them before their departure. His dis- 
ciples, seemingly forgetful of their Master’s creative 
power on a previous occasion, objected, that it was 

impossible to find food 
for such a vast com- 
pany in that wilderness. 
But our Lord, without 
noticing their peevish 
objection, commanded 
the people to sit down, 
and then from seven 
loaves and a few little 
fishes he produced, by 
his creative power, more than sufficient to satisfy the 
hunger of tour thousand men and a large number 
of women and children. 

After performing this notable miracle Jesus dis- 
missed his wondering beneficiaries to their homes. 
Then, proceeding to the lake, he sailed in a south- 
westerly direction, and, avoiding Capernaum, where 
his enemies were lying in wait for him, landed in a 
retired spot between Magdala and Dalmanutha.* 

* The situation of Dalmanutha cannot be ascertained. Lange thinks 
it was a small village in the region of Magdala. 



Our Lord Rebukes his Enemies. 


215 


Wrathful enemies. 


Severe rebuff. 


LXIII. 


OUR LORD REBUKES HIS ENEMIES. 



]5)UT even here his enemies were on the watch. 


(3^ Scarcely had he landed before a party of Phar- 
isees and Sadducees from Magdala confronted him 
and demanded “ a sign from heaven.” 

This was the third time his enemies had required 
him to prove his Messianic character by working 
some visible change in the celestial bodies. Their 
reason for demanding a sign of this character was a 
prevailing opinion, founded on certain prophetic de- 
scriptions of Christ’s second coming, (see Dan. vii, 13,) 
that when Messiah came there would be some grand 
and unusual movements among the heavenly bodies. 
Had these men approached Jesus in a teachable spirit 
he would no doubt have pointed out their mistaken 
interpretation of those prophecies. But they were not 
seeking instruction. Their motive was malicious. 
Their object was to make him say something which 
they could pervert into a ground for an accusation 
before the authorities. Hence our Lord rebuffed them, 
with richly deserved severity, for their blindness in 
not seeing proofs of his Messiahship in the many mir- 
acles he had so publicly wrought. (Matt, xvi, 1-3.) 

Having denounced their hypocrisy and sighed over 
the hardness of their hearts, he retraced his steps to 


216 


Our King. 


Jesus in Perea. The blind man. 

the shore, re-entered his vessel, and sailed to the 
northern shore of the lake. Hence he landed on its 
eastern shore and went to Bethsaida- Julias.* 


LXIV. 

SIGHT GIVEN TO A BLIND MAN. 

t T this place a blind man was brought to him. 
Instead of healing him with a word or touch, 

as was his general 
habit, he took him 
by the hand and led 
him outside the city 
gate. He then spit 
on the poor man’s 
eyelids, passed his 
hands over them, and 
asked : “ What do 
you see ? ” 

“ I see men as trees 
walking,” replied he. 
Again our Lord 
placed his sacred hands upon the half-opened eyes 
and said, “ Now, look up.” 

* That is. as Dr. Thomson thinks, to that portion of the city of 
Bethsaida wh'ch was on the eastern side of the Jordan. It was called 
Julias in honor of Julia, daughter of the emperor Augustus. It be- 
longed not to Galilee but to Perea. 



Sight Given to a Blind Man. 


217 


A wonderful cure. 


A place of prayer. 


The man did so and saw every object clearly. 

Whether this cure was gradual, or was a twofold 
miracle, is uncertain. Perhaps the sight was restored 
by the first touch. But the man, blind from his birth 
apparently, could scarcely tell one thing from another, 
because he had previously had no knowledge of vis- 
ible objects but what he had derived from feeling , 
and this, owing to the suddenness of his cure, only 
confused and embarrassed him. The second touch 
gave him the power to receive correct impressions, 
which, in ordinary cases, has to be gained by observa- 
tion and experience. Or it may be that the man had 
little faith, and his cure progressed from partial to 
perfect sight as his faith in the great Healer grew. 
In either case it was a deed impossible to a mere 
man, one of the thousands of proofs presented by our 
Lord to show that “ in him dwelt the fullness of the 
Godhead bodily.” 


LXV. 


PETER’S CONFESSION OF FAITH. 



FTER this miracle, Jesus led his disciples up 


the eastern bank of the Jordan to its springs 


in the neighborhood of Cesarea Philippi, so called in 
honor of the tetrarch Herod Philip. 

It was while in this delightful section of the coun- 
try that he one day led his disciples into a retired 


PAS 


Our King. 


Popular opinion of Christ Peter’s grand confession. 

spot for prayer. Having prepared their minds by 
devotion for the sad revelation of his coming suffer- 
ings he now intended to make, he said to his disci- 
ples as they walked along : — 

“ Who do the people think I am ? ” 

They told him that popular opinion varied. “ Some 
say you are John the Baptist ; some, Elias ; and others, 
Jeremias, or one of the prophets risen again.” 

“But whom say ye that I am?” asked Jesus. 

Peter, speaking for the others, replied : “ Thou art 
the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

This confession contained a higher conception of 
Christ’s real character than the disciples had hereto- 
fore attained. They had previously confessed him as 
the Christ, and as having the words of eternal life ; 
but in this third confession they declared their faith 
in his divinity, and that, too, at a time when, owing 
to the open hostility of the Jewish hierarchy, he was 
shunning his old places of resort, and acting more like 
a fiiodtive than a divine King. 

Jesus appreciated this grand confession, and blessing 
Peter, declared that upon the mighty truth he had just 
uttered, as upon an everlasting Rock, he would build 
his Church. It was “ not the flesh but the faith of 
Peter,” which was to be the Rock of the Church. 

No doubt both Peter and his companions were highly 
elated by the approving words of their Lord. Their 


Peter's Confession of Faith. 


219 


The disciples discouraged. 


Peter’s impertinence. 


faith in his coming kingdom was strong, and of his 
power to overthrow all opposition they entertained no 
doubt. AVhat. were tings or armies to him who was 
Lord over nature? (Matt, xvi, 13-20.) 


LXVI. 


PETER REBUKED BY HIS LORD. 



f^UT their minds, which, in spite of Peter’s con- 


fession, still clung to the theory of an earthly 
throne, were greatly discouraged when Jesus pro- 
ceeded to tell them plainly, for the first time, that he 
was soon to be put to death at Jerusalem, but that he 
would rise from the dead on the third day. 

Peter, rash as he was loving, only acted what the 
others felt, when, placing his hand on his Lord’s arm, 
he dared to rebuke him by saying : — 

“Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto 
thee ! ” 

This was an impertinence not to be borne. By it 
Peter became his Master’s tempter, and opposed his 
shallow wisdom to the Divine method of saving man- 
kind. It was necessary to put an effectual check 
upon such utterances. Jesus did this by using the 
severest words which he ever addressed to his faithful 
but often mistaken disciples. With a look which, 


220 


Our King. 


A deserved rebuke. Nature of Christ’s service. 

we may suppose, was expressive of both pity and in- 
dignation, he said : — 

“ Get thee behind me, Satan : thou art an offense 
unto me : for thou savorest not the things that be of 
God, but those that be of men.” Matt, xvi, 21-28. 

Leaving the sting of this deserved rebuke to do its 
appropriate work in the heart of the abashed Peter, 
Jesus beckoned the people, who were awaiting his 
coming, and proceeded to deepen the impression he 
had made on the twelve by unfolding the spiritual 
nature of the service he required of his followers. It 
was not the military service of ambitious men that 
he desired, but the humble service of self-den}dng 
men who despised the things of this world, and sought 
spiritual gains as their chief good. The rewards of 
his servants were not to consist of principalities and 
earthly riches, but of his friendship in the heavenly 
kingdom. 

Of the effect of this discourse on Peter and his 
fellow-disciples we know nothing. Neither do we 
know where or how Jesus spent the following week. 
But six or eight days after we find him overlooking 
Peter’s offensive language, so far as to make him one 
of three chosen witnesses to the most glorious scene 
in his earthly life. 


Christ Transfigured on Mount Ilermon. 221 


The solitude of Hermon. 


A glorious spectacle. 




LXVI1. 

CHRIST TRANSFIGURED ON MOUNT HERMON. 

|A. ». 28.] 

r vjP}AKING Peter, John, and James, lie led them 
np the slope of* Mount Hermon * into one of its 
Alpine solitudes, where the eool air refreshed their 
bodies, and the quiet solemnity of the scenery fitted 
their minds for meditation and prayer. Here he 
withdrew from them a short distance, though not out 
of their sight, and kneeled down to pray. So long 
were his devotions 
continued that the 
disciples, overcome 
by fatigue, fell into 
a sort of uneasy 
sleep, from which 
they were finally 
awaked by an un- 
earthly glare of 


light. 


Throwing 



off their stupor, 
they beheld a glorious spectacle. Jesus was before 

* Tradition makes Mount Tabor the scene of the transfiguration ; 
but many of the best investigators think the conditions of the evan- 
gelical narrative are better met by the situation of Mount Hermon. 
Moreover, Tabor, in our Lord’s time, was crowned by a large fortress, 
and could scarcely afford the privacy which the solemn event required 

13 


22*2 


Our King. 


Marvelous scenes. Peter's surprise. 

them, not as when they closed their slumbering eves, 
but irradiated with the light of his inward divinity. 
“ His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was 
white as the light, so as no fuller on earth can white 
them.” 

While they gazed in dumb astonishment at this 
marvelous display of celestial glory in their Master’s 
person, another marvel met their strained vision. 
Two men appeared in conversation with Jesus. 
These august personages they soon recognized as 
Moses, the representative of the Law, and Elijah, the 
chief of the prophets. The topic of their discourse 
was the coming death of Jesus at Jerusalem. There 
is little or no doubt that it touched on the relations 
of his death to the old dispensations represented by 
those visitors from the spiritual world. By dying he 
would give effect to their work, saving all who had 
died trusting in the Mosaic sacrifices, which were dim 
figures of the grand offering of himself which Jesus 
was about to make. By that sacrificial act he would 
also provide for the salvation of the world. Peter 
must have felt both surprised and ashamed to learn 
that the violent death of his Lord, which he had 
deprecated in the language of rebuke, was the theme 
of wonder and admiration on the part of these visitors 
from Heaven. 

Nevertheless, he could not yet rid himself of his 


Christ Transfigured on Mount Hermon. 223 


An idle proposal. The voice of God. 

old dreams of earthly Messianic splendor. While the 
necessity of his Lord’s death was declared by voices 
from heaven, he flattered himself that Jesus was 
about to begin his Messianic reign openly and glori- 
ously. Hence when he saw his Lord’s companions 
disappearing, with bewildered mind he exclaimed: — 
u Lord, it is good for us to be here : if thou wilt, 
let us make here three tabernacles ; one for thee, and 
one for Moses, and one for Elias.” 

His thought, obscurely understood even by him- 
self, seems to have sprung from his expectation that 
Jesus, attended by Moses and Elias, would now re- 
main in that hallowed spot, and that he and his fellow- 
disciples would be sent out to summon the world to 
come and behold his glory. Hence he would build 
booths for the protection of his Master and his illus- 
trious visitors. 

This well-meant but idle proposal was speedily driven 
from his much-excited mind by a third display of Di- 
vine power. A bright cloud suddenly overshadowed 
them. They found themselves within the brilliant rays 
of the divine Shekinah, that luminous cloud which 
conceals while it reveals the presence of the eternal 
Father. From the unseen depths of that cloud a 
voice broke forth, saying : — 

u This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased ; hear ye him.” 


224 : 


Our King. 


Terrified disciples. Questionings. 

This was the voice of God. Though it spoke in 
love tones, it terrified the disciples, for it was a near 
manifestation of the Infinite One. Filled with speech- 
less terror, they fell upon their faces. There they re- 
mained until Jesus touched them, and in tones which 
reassured them, said : — 

“Arise, and be not afraid ! ” 

They opened their eyes. The vision was gone. 
There was no person in that mountain solitude “save 
Jesus only.” 

Refreshed in spirit, strengthened for the sad expe- 
riences before him, Jesus now led his disciples down 
the mountain’s slope. The favored three were, no 
doubt, highly elated by the novel and unearthly scenes 
through which they had just passed, and eager to re- 
late them to their fellow-disciples. They had no doubt 
respecting their Master now. Moses, Elias, and even 
Jehovah himself, had acknowledged his divinity. 
But they were perplexed as well as joyous. Why did 
not Elias accompany their Master, and proclaim him 
to the people as their promised Messiah ? Thus they 
questioned each other, and when Jesus, knowing that 
the story of that night’s experiences would be more 
effectual in convincing others after his resurrection 
than at that time, forbade them to speak of it un- 
til after that great event. This allusion to his resur- 
rection added to their perplexities; but saying noth- 


Christ Transfigured on Mount Harmon. 


225 


An indirect inquiry. A young demoniac. 

ing on that point, they tried to find out why, he being 
the Messiah, Elias had not accompanied him, to be 
his forerunner, by the indirect inquiry: — 

“Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?” 
Our Lord settled that question by assuring them 
that Elias had already been, and had fulfilled his ap- 
pointed mission in the person of John the Baptist. 
But their notions of a temporal Messianic kingdom 
still remained to throw mists and vapors over their 
eyes — mists which continued until dissipated by the 
teachings of their Lord after his resurrection. 


LXVIII. 

A DUMB AND DEAF DEMON CAST OUT. 

•\-A7nir.K Jesus and h is three companions were 
Zofi descending the mountain, his remaining dis- 
ciples were undergoing a very painful ordeal. A 
young demoniac had been brought to them, and, 
although they had previously received power to cast 
out demons, they had failed in this instance, very 
much to their own chagrin and to the malicious de- 
light of some of the scribes present at that place. 
The reason of their failure may possibly be found in 
their questionings about their Master, since he had 
told them of his coming violent death. There was 


226 


Our King. 


Wily scribes and confused disciples. 

something so mysterious to them in that prediction 
the} T could not comprehend it. How could Jesus die 
a violent death if he were indeed Messiah ? The two 
things were as yet irreconcilable to their thoroughly 
Jewish minds. It was natural that, thus reasoning, 
they should lose a measure of their faith and stagger, 
when confronted with so hard a case as that of the 
young demoniac. It is not impossible that the gloomy, 
wavering mind of Judas insinuated many doubts, and 
led them toward the mire of unbelief. Whatever the 
cause was their faith had failed. 

Their failure confused their understandings, and 
when the wily scribes, skilled in rhetorical art, plied 
them with arguments drawn from a rabbinical lore 
which they did not understand, it is easy to see that 
they were in danger of becoming laughing-stocks to 
the people, when Jesus happily came to their relief. 

His presence wrought wonders in a moment on the 
feelings of the crowd. Ho doubt his exalted experi- 
ences during the previous night had left its traces 
upon his countenance. There was an unwonted maj- 
esty in his mien, and a mysterious light in his features, 
which “ greatly amazed ” the people, who crowded 
toward him with respectful salutations. 

To relieve his disciples in their unfortunate dispu- 
tations, the Lord first demanded of the scribes a 
statement of the questions in dispute. Before they 


A Dumb and Deaf Demon Cast Out. 


227 


An agonized father’s sad story. 

had time to reply a poor man pressed forward, and, 
humbly kneeling, described the sad condition of his 
son and the failure of the disciples to heal liim. 

After gently rebuking his disciples for their lack of 
faith, and sternly protesting against the cavilings of 
the scribes, Jesus told the agonized father to bring 
forward his suffering son. 

It was a sad case of severe affliction. From child- 
hood a demon had 
possessed him, had 
thrown him into 
frequent convul- 
sions, had robbed 
him of speech, had 
moved him to sun- 
dry acts of self-de- 
structive violence. 

Even then, as he 
came into the 
presence of the Lord, the foul spirit threw him into 
a fearful paroxysm. Looking first to the father, 
Jesus asked how long this demon had ruled over his 
boy. 

“Ever since he was a child. But if thou canst do 
any thing have compassion on us and help us.” 

Perhaps this distressed father was pardonable for 
doubting Christ’s power after the failure of the dis- 



228 


Our King. 


A believing father. An astonished multitude. 

ciples. But Jesus will have the man’s faith before 
he will put forth his healing power, and he kindly 
replies : — 

“If thou canst believe, all things are possible to 
him that believeth.” 

Driven to the act of faith by the extremity of his 
despair, the man rejoins earnestly and with tears: — 

“ Lord, I believe ; help thou mine unbelief.” 

The crowd, wondering what this dialogue may im- 
port, grows eager and somewhat disorderly ; when 
Jesus, speaking with the stern decision of a judge 
from whose word there can be no appeal, says to the 
trembling demon : — 

“Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come 
out of him, and enter no more into him.” 

These words fill the abject demon with terror, so 
that it cries out and flies away unseen to its own dark 
abyss. Its victim, torn by the terrible violence of 
the demon’s spiteful departure, is left lying pale and 
motionless on the ground. 

“ He is dead ! he is dead ! ” exclaimed several 
voices. 

But Jesus, unmoved by their cries, stoops, takes the 
lad by the hand, and helps him rise. He is evidently 
cured, and while the happy father leads away his 
boy, sound and vigorous, all the people look on in 
silent amazement “ at the mighty power of God.” 


A Dumb and Deaf Demon Cast Out . 229 


Mortified disciples. The faith which conquers. 

After performing this notable deed our Lord retired 
to his temporary lodgings, for the purpose probably of 
rest and refreshment after the vigils of the night. 
Scarcely were they out of the hearing of the multi- 
tude, before the nine mortified disciples gathered 
about him to inquire the reason of their failure to 
cast out the demon. He frankly told them that their 
unbelief was the cause of their powerlessness,, and 
assured them that their power to do great deeds de- 
pended on the strength of their faith. To cast out 
such demons * as the one which possessed the boy, 
required such a faith as cannot be attained except by 
rigid self-denial and much prayer. Had they such 
faith, they would be able to root up trees, that is, to 
do things otherwise impossible by men. 


LXIX. 

TRIBUTE MONEY FOUND IN THE FISH’S MOUTH. 

[A. D. 88.] 

S MARTLY that he might have opportunity to fur- 
ther instruct his humiliated disciples, and partly, 
it may be presumed, not to attract the observation of 
the men who were seeking his life, Jesus now (early 

* The phrase “ this kind” employed by St. Mark, denotes, says 
Trench, “that there are orders of evil spirits, that as there is a hie- 
rarchy of heaven, so is there an inverted hierarchy of hell.” 


230 


Our King. 


Solemn conversations. A tax-collector’s question. 

in June, probably) crossed the Jordan into northern 
Galilee, and journeyed by the most retired paths to 
Capernaum. The principal topic of his conversations 
with them appears to have been his approaching vio- 
lent death and subsequent resurrection. They were 
profoundl} 7 convinced of his Messiahship. He wished 
to prepare them to bear the shock of his death and 
the seeming triumph of his enemies. But notwith- 
standing his endeavors to enlighten them, they could 
not reconcile such an end as he so persistently predicted 
for himself with their ideas of the Messiah. Moreover, 
his death would cut off all those hopes of honorable 
places in his visible temporal kingdom, which at this 
time they secretly cherished. There can be no doubt 
that these selfish views blinded their eyes, and hin- 
dered them from gaining right conceptions of their 
great Master's purposes. Hence his words per- 
plexed and distressed them at that time, but they 
became sources of strength when, a few months 
later, the predictions were fulfilled by their Mas- 
ter’s resurrection from the dead, and his ascension to 
heaven. 

As they entered Capernaum, the collector of the 
annual tax of thirty cents, paid by all Jews, in accord- 
ance with a law of Moses, (see Exod. xxx, 13,) for 
the support of the temple, accosted Peter with the 
question : — 


Tribute Money Found in the Fish J s Mouth. 231 


Peter questioned. Peter’s mission. 

“Doth not jour Master pay the Temple tax?”* 

With his habitual impetuosity, Peter replied, 
“ Yes,” and passed on after Jesus, who had gone to 
his abode. 

Eo sooner had Peter entered the house than his 
all-knowing Lord asked him whether kings exact- 
ed money from their own children or from their 
subjects? 

Peter promptly replied, “From their subjects.” 

“ Then,” rejoined Jesus, “ the children are free, but 
nevertheless, lest we should offend them, go thou to the 
sea and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first 
cometh up ; and when thou hast opened his mouth, 
thou shalt find a staUr ; that take and give unto them 
for thee and me.” 

By these words our Lord intended to teach Peter 
that as the Son of the Temple ? s Lord — as the being 
for whose worship the Temple was built — there was 
no fitness in requiring him to pay this tax. Still, to 
prevent giving needless offense to those who did not 
comprehend his divine character, he would conde- 
scend to meet their demand. But. he would do it in 

* This tax was payable in the half shekel, coined during the time of 
the Maccabees. These coins having become scarce, it was paid to the 
collectors in the Roman didrachma , which was taken to Jerusalem 
and exchanged for the temple half shekel. The stater which Peter 
found in the fish’s mouth was equal to two didrachma , and sufficient to 
pay the tax for both Peter and his Master. 


232 


Our King. 


A divine deed. 


A quiet day. 


a way which should prove that his humble outward 
form was the dwelling-place of one greater than the 
Temple. As Lord over nature, he would compel a 
particular fish which had a stater in its mouth, to come 
to the shore at the moment when Peter should cast 
in a hook, which the fish should bite. 

This wonderful combination of events actually took 
place, and thereby did our divine Lord, who, in his 
humanity, was so poor as to be without the paltry 
sum of sixty cents, compel a fish to be unconsciously 
obedient to his will. The deed was certainly one 
which no act or power of man could possibly ac- 
complish. 


LXX. 


CHRIST’S DIMINISHED POPULARITY IN CAPERNAUM. 



HE diminished popularity of our Lord in Galilee 


0* was now shown by his being able to gratify his 
desire for privacy. Heretofore, his arrival in Caper- 
naum, or any -other city, could not be so concealed as 
to prevent the coming together of vast crowds of 
eager and curious people. But now, owing to the 
success of his virulent foes in prejudicing the popular 
mind, we find him spending the day in quiet compan- 
ionship with his chosen twelve. Many and precious 
were the lessons he taught them : such as, that he 


Christ Less Popular in Capernaum . 233 


Beautiful ideals of human duty. 

who is nearest a little child in humility is the greatest 
in his kingdom ; that a charitable and catholic spirit is 
a disciple’s duty; 
that he who gives 
willful offense to 
the feeblest believ- 
ers endangers his 
own salvation ; 
that the forgive- 
ness of one’s ene- 
mies is a positive 
duty ; that to re- 
fuse forgiveness to 
a fellow-creature works a forfeiture ot one’s claim on 
God for the forgiveness of offenses against him. (See 
Mark ix, 33-50, and Matt, xviii, 1-34.) These pre- 
cepts were as novel as they were exalted. They pre- 
sented a noble and beautiful ideal ot human duty, far 
exceeding any that had ever before been conceived 
by man. 



234 : 


Our King. 


Our Lord preparing for his final conflicts. 


LXXI. 

CHRIST PREPARES TO LEAVE GALILEE. 

LA. D. 28.] 

(Ai 

JllT is impossible to write with confidence respecting 
the manner in which our Lord spent the two 
months next preceding his journey to Jerusalem, to 
attend the festival of u tabernacles.” It seems highly 

probable that he 
lived in partial se- 
clusion from June 
to September, either 
at Capernaum or 
somewhere in its vi- 
cinity. He needed 
these few weeks of 
repose to prepare 
both mind and body 
for the exciting la- 
bors and toilsome 
wanderings of the 
last six months of his earthly life. Possibly he spent 
some of this time in preparing, by special teaching, 
the seventy disciples whom he was about to send out 
on a temporary mission. 

Early in September Jesus began his preparations 
for leaving Galilee, and facing his ever active and 



Christ Prepares to Leave Galilee . 


235 


Seventy royal messengers sent out. 

powerful adversaries in their seat of power, Jerusalem. 
His first step was not that of mere man anticipating 
a violent death, but of a Sovereign about to make a 
tour of his dominions. He selected seventy men from 
among his remaining adherents, and sent them into 
Judea and Perea to announce his coming.* He em- 
powered these men to work miracles in his name, to 
preach the Gospel of his kingdom, and assured them 
that by the time they had performed their allotted 
task the mission of the Son of man would be well- 
nigh completed. This act shows how little our Lord 
dreaded his sworn opponents. He was about to place 
himself within the jurisdiction of men whom he knew 
meant to kill him, and yet. he gave to his intention 
the utmost possible publicity. Two facts will explain 
this part of his conduct : first, he was about to lay 
down his life of his own free and loving will ; second, 
he held his enemies with a chain they could not break 
until the hour which he had himself appointed to be 
his last. 

* There has been much disagreement among harmonists respecting 
the period at which the Seventy were sent out. We follow Dr. Strong, 
because we think their appointment at this time agrees with the cir- 
cumstances of the case. Especially it is probable that he would be 
more likely to find seventy suitable persons in Galilee, where he had 
spent the greater part of his life, than in Samaria or Perea. In choos- 
ing the number, seventy, he either had reference to the number com- 
posing the Sanhedrin, or to the seventy nations into which the Jews 
divided the heathen world, or to both. 


236 


Our King. 


Our Lord’s brothers. A wise decision. 

After having quietly dispatched his apparently 
humble but really royal messengers, he was waited upon 
by his brothers, who urged him to go to the coming 
feast of tabernacles for the purpose of giving some 
signal proofs of his Messiahsliip in the great metrop- 
olis of his country. Evidently his brothers did not 
as yet comprehend the spiritual nature of his king- 
dom. They believed in his miraculous power. They 
recognized the reality and grandeur of his “works” 
They wished him to show himself to the world as 
Messiah, if he were that personage, according to the 
Jewish idea. But Jesus told them that he was not 
intending to go with the pilgrim bands about to start 
for Jerusalem. They might travel thither in festal 
style, openly, without danger, for none were seeking 
their lives. For himself, he would wait a while; the 
time for his going had not yet arrived. 

It is easy to perceive the wisdom of our Lord’s 
decision. Had he gone with the mass of pilgrims 
from all parts of Galilee, he would have been a center 
of attraction to thousands upon thousands who had 
often witnessed his many miracles. His journe}' 
would have been a mighty ovation. It might have 
ended in an outburst of enthusiasm, and a determina- 
tion of the excited people to crown him king at 
Jerusalem. As this step was contrary to the plans 
of Jesus, he would do nothing likely to promote it. 


Christ Prepares to Leave Galilee. 


237 


Farewell to Galilee. An unchristian request. 

Accordingly, he remained quietly in Galilee until 
tiie highways were freed from the crowds of travelers 
flocking to the feast 


LXXII. 


ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM. 

TA. D. 28.] 

'X®t7 r HEN the time he judged best for his depart- 
lire did arrive he bade farewell to his beloved 
Galilee, and, followed by his twelve chosen compan- 
ions, began his journey toward Judea. Traveling by 
the most retired roads, lie passed rapidly through 
Galilee into Samaria. To prevent needless delays, he 
6ent some of his disciples forward from village to vil- 
lage to make suitable preparations for his entertain- 
ment. At one place the villagers, finding that he 
was going to Jerusalem, permitted their anti-Jewish 
prej udices to outweigh the claims of hospitality. They 
refused to entertain him. This churlish conduct ex- 
cited the ire of James and John, and they asked 
permission to destroy the place by bringing down fire 
from heaven, as Elijah had done on Mount Carmel 
ages before. This natural, but unchristian request, 
gave Jesus an opportunity to enlighten his disciples 

with respect to the spirit of the kingdom he had 
14 


23S 


Our King. 


A sweet truth. Ten lepers. 

come to found. Love, not wrath, was to be its ani- 
mating spirit, for, he said, “The Son of man is not 
come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” 

Had this sweet truth been permitted to enter fully 
into the life of the Church of Christ in after ages, 
many a page of its history, now stained with the 
crimson of martyr-blood, would have been as un- 
stained as virgin snow. Were it fully apprehended 
even now, the loving unity and fellowship of the 
saints would soon win the world to their Master’s 
feet. 

Our Lord speedily gave a significant illustration of 
the loving truth he had uttered. Passing through 
another Samaritan village, he met ten lepers. Stand- 
ing at a distance, because of their loathsome condi- 
tion, they cried in melancholy chorus : — 

“ Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 

Their cry roused his compassion. Ten men af- 
flicted with incurable disease were there to test his 
healing power. But ten or ten thousand were alike 
to him whose ability was infinite. Without touch or 
manipulation, without an instant’s delay, by a silent 
act of his mind, he restored them to perfect health, 
and then said to them : — 

u Go show yourselves unto the priests ! ” . 

The men turned and left, all but one. He, seeing 
himself cured, paused, turned back, ran toward Jesus, 


On the Road to Jerusalem. 


239 


A grateful Samaritan. A beautiful contrast. 

fell at his feet, and with the enthusiasm of new-born 
gratitude, thanked his Almighty healer. Pleased 
with the loving 
demonstrations of 
this man, the only 
Samaritan among 
the ten, our Lord 
said to him most 
tenderly : — 

“Arise, go thy 
way : thy faith 

hath made thee 
whole.” 

Behold in this sweet act of mercy the retaliation 
of love 1 In return for Samaritan inhospitality Jesus 
healed a Samaritan leper. How beautiful does this 
grand act of charity stand out in contrast with the 
desire of his half-converted disciples to retaliate with 
fire and death ! 



240 


Our King. 


A forest city. 


Festival days. 


LXXIII. 

JERUSALEM IN ITS FESTAL DRESS. 

[A. D. 28.1 

HILE Jesus was taking his weary way through 
Samaria and Judea toward Jerusalem, this 
proud city 7 was alive and merry with the excitements 
of the festival which, toward the last of September, 
celebrated the desert life of the ancient Israelites. 
The streets, the courts, the open places, and even the 
battlements, were thickly dotted with booths or huts 
built with “ boughs with the fresh leaves on them.” 
“A merry-making forest town almost hid the real 
city, and the height of Zion seemed transformed into a 
migratory camp.” Joyous voices broke from these 
huts. Processions, bearing branches of palm and 
other fruit trees, marched to and from the Temple, 
where, in addition to the ordinary sacrifices, signifi- 
cant symbols pointed back to the days in which their 
fathers wandered in the desert. Among these was 
the pouring out of water taken by the priest from 
Siloah’s fountain, from a “ large golden beaker ” into 
a perforated silver dish. This act denoted the mirac- 
ulous gift of water in the wilderness. The noise of 
many brazen-throated trumpets, the loud hosannas 
of thousands of voices, and the lively strains of festal 
music, greeted its performance. Then, at night, the 


Feast of Tabernacles. 


I 




* 










Jerusalem in its Festal Dress. 


243 


Unwonted feeling. Disputations among the people. 

pillar of fire, which ages before had “ scared away 
the nightly horrors of the desert,” was symbolized by 
lights from “ two large golden lamp stands,” erected 
in the court of the women. These “ threw their light 
from the Temple hill down over the whole city of 
Jerusalem, while, in the magical illumination of the 
darkness, a choir of men danced round the lights with 
singing and music.” In such festivities the people, 
gathered from far and near, w T ere accustomed to 
spend eight glad and happy days. 

But at this particular feast an unwonted current of 
feeling disturbed many of the people. An impression 
generally prevailed that Jesus was coming to the city. 
Whence it was derived no man could tell ; yet it was 
there by a sort of popular prescience, infecting all 
minds, and exciting many tongues. The great men 
of the hierarchy, eager for his death, looked every- 
where with malicious eyes, asking, “ Where is he ? ” 
in contemptuous tones. The people stood together 
in knots gravely discussing his character. Some, 
from Galilee most likely, said, “He is a good man.” 
Others, probably from Judea, which furnished the 
greater number of visitors at this feast, and which had 
witnessed as yet but few of his mighty -works, replied, 
“No. He is a deceiver of the people.” But most, 
knowing the bitter feeling against Jesus which existed 
among their chief men, spoke cautiously, as if unwill- 


244 


Our King 


Leaders of thought in Jerusalem. 


ing to commit themselves in favor of a man proscribed 
by the leaders of thought and the possessors of high 
official dignities. 



PHARISEE AND HIS PHYLACTERY.* 


* “There were two kinds of phylacteries in use among the Jews, one 
for the arm, and one for the head. The latter kind is represented in 
the engraving. It consisted of four cells, in which were four strips 
of parchment having written on them, in Hebrew, four passages of 
Scripture, namely: Exod. xiii, 1— 1 0 j Exod. xiii, 11— 16 j Deut. vi, 4— 9| 
and Deut. xi, 13-21. It was fastened by leather straps on the’ fore- 


Nolle Bearing of Jesus before his Enemies . 245 


A sudden appearance. 


A sarcastic question. 


LXXIV. 

NOBLE BEARING OF JESUS BEFORE HIS ENEMIES. 

BOUT the middle of the feast Jesus surprised 
both friends and foes by his sudden appearance 
in the court of the Temple. It was an act of daring 
courage, like the bearding a lion in his den. Yet, with 
calm majesty, he proceeded to teach in such strains 
of simple, but authoritative, thought, that even his 
enemies were tilled with wonder. Some of the more 
malignant among them sarcastically asked: — 

“ How can this man, who was not educated in 
the schools, know the right interpretation of the 
Scriptures ? ” 

To this question, which was intended to discredit 
him before the people, Jesus replied by boldly declar- 
ing the divine source of his doctrine. Having 
defended himself, he attacked them, showing their 
unfitness to teach, by the fact that they were then 

head, between the eyes, and near the roots of the hair. The phylac- 
tery for the arm consisted of but one strip of parchment on which the 
above texts were written. 

“Phylacteries were worn by the men only. While ordinary people 
wore them only during prayers, the Pharisees wore them continually, 
and as they sought to attract public attention by inclosing the parch- 
ment strips in larger boxes than usual, the Saviour denounces them 
for making ‘ broad their phylacteries.’ Matt, xxiii, 5. 

“Modern Jews continue the use of the phylacteries, which they call 
tepliillin , that is, prayer -fillets, because they use them in time of prayer.” 



24(3 


Our King. 


A severe thrust. Sublime courage. 

seeking his life in defiance of the very law which 
they pretended to understand so profoundly. (John 
vii, 14-24:.) 

This pertinent but severe thrust wounded them 
sharply, and some of the bitterest among them sneer- 
ingly rejoined : — 

“ Thou hast a devil : who goeth about to kill 
thee ? ” 

Taking no notice either of this taunt or of their 
denial of murderous intentions, Jesus proceeded to 
show from their practice of circumcising on the Sab- 
bath the absurdity of their cavils at his cure of the 
paralytic on the Sabbath some months previously, 
out of which their proceedings against him had 
arisen. 

This sublime courage silenced his querulous op- 
ponents, and awakened the admiration of certain cit- 
izens of Jerusalem who stood near by, one of whom 
said : — 

“ Is not this he whom they seek to kill ? Yet he 
speaks publicly, and they do not venture even a reply. 
Are they about to accept him as Messiah? We are 
sure he is not, for we know his mean origin ; but 
when Messiah does come no man will know whence 
he comes.” 

To this contemptuous setting aside of his claims 
Jesus responded by repeating his assertion that, not- 


Noble Bearing of Jesus before his Enemies. 247 


Increase of popularity. A bold declaration. 

withstanding his humble birth, lie was, indeed, a 
teacher sent from God. (John vii, 28, 29.) 

The effect of onr Lord’s gracious and authoritative 
words soon began to appear in the faith of many of 
his listeners. When Messiah comes will he do great- 
er miracles than this man hath done? was a question 
whispered from many lips, until it became so general 
as to sound like the murmuring of the waters. The 
elders of the people, alarmed by this sudden increase 
of his popularity, consulted, and resolved to strike him 
down at once. In accordance with this purpose they 
immediately issued an order to the officers of the 
Sanhedrin for his arrest. 

Nothing terrified by their proceedings, for they 
could not touch him until his chosen hour arrived, 
Jesus continued to teach from day to day, warning 
his enemies and instructing his honest listeners. On 
the last day of the feast, alluding to their water-liba- 
tion, the symbol of the water in the desert, Jesus boldly 
declared himself to be the fountain of living water, 
the only giver of spiritual life. So majestically and 
so convincingly did he speak that not only the peo- 
ple, but also the officers who held the order for his 
arrest, stood powerless in his presence. Beturning to 
the Sanhedrin without him, they were eagerly asked 
by the presiding priest : — 

u Why have ye not brought him?” 


248 


Our King. 


The indignant Sanhedrin. Boldness of Nicodemus. 

“ Never man spake like this man,” they replied 
with an emphasis and solemnity which showed how 
deeply they had been impressed by the majesty of 
Jesus. 

The Pharisees were indignant at the delinquency 
of their officers. They angrily asked if they had been 
duped, and bade them note that no man of mark had 
believed in Jesus, no one, indeed, but the ignorant 
rabble, who were accursed because of their ignorance 
of the Scriptures. 

This vile language roused the spirit of the noble 
Nicodemus, who had, on a previous occasion, sought 
private instruction from Jesus. His sense of justice 
was outraged by the evidently foregone purpose of 
the majority to take the life of the innocent and irre- 
proachable Nazarene. Daring the rage of his peers, 
and bravely risking his position, if not his life, he 
strove to recall them to a sense of judicial propriety 
by asking : — 

“Doth our law judge any man before it hear him, 
and ascertain his offense ? ” 

This question, which suggested the possible defec- 
tion of one of their own body, stung them deeply, and 
greatly increased their exasperation. They sneered 
at the bold Nicodemus and taunted him bitterly. In 
the blind vehemence of their passion they stultified 
themselves by declaring that Galilee never produced 


Noble Beai'ing of Jesus before his Enemies. 249 


An historical falsehood. 


The adulteress. 


a prophet, in the face of that Scripture of which they 
were the boastful interpreters, but which taught that 
certainly Elijah and Jonah, and probably TTosea and 
Nahum, were natives of that country. With this 
passionate utterance of an historical falsehood, not 
having their expected prisoner before them, they ad- 
journed in vexed confusion. Meanwhile Jesus, hav- 
ing concluded his discourse, had retired quietly across 
the Mount of Olives to the peaceful seclusion of his 
lodgings in the little village of Bethany. 


LXXV. 


JESUS PARDONS AN ADULTERESS. 



T an early hour on the following morning our 


Lord, undaunted by the avowed enmity of his 


mighty adversaries, went to the Temple and sat down 
to teach the crowds which quickly gathered about 
him. Presently some of his wily foes, after privately 
setting a trap for him, came near where he sat, bring- 
ing with them a woman guilty of adultery. Having 
stated the case and the law, which punished such 
offenses with stoning, they asked him what, in his 
opinion, should be done to the guilty creature. Hop- 
ing that his reply would furnish them with ground for 
a public accusation, they stood waiting his answer 
with wicked leers. 


250 


Our King. 


A mysterious writing. Unendurable shame. 

The action of Jesus on this occasion was very re- 
markable. Instead of answering by words, lie stooped 
and wrote in the dust at his feet. 

Perplexed by this unusual act, they repeated their 
question, until Jesus rose up and, in allusion to the 
custom which required the principal witness against 
a criminal to cast the first stone, replied 

“ He that is without sin among you, let him first 
cast a stone at her.” 

Having uttered these significant words, he resumed 
his act of writing in the dust. What he wrote we 
know not ; but to the accusers of the woman his di- 
vine power made the mystic lines symbolic of their life 
histories and instruments of conviction in their con- 
sciences. An awful sense of their own wickedness 
crept over them. They felt as criminals in the pres- 
ence of a Judge who knew their guilt. Their shame 
was unendurable. One by one they stole out from 
the circle formed by the wondering crowd and 
disappeared. 

When the last of them had left, Jesus ceased writ- 
ing, and looking up, said to the trembling and, may 
we not believe, penitent woman : — 

“ Where are those thine accusers ? Hath any one 
sentenced thee to be stoned ? ” 

“No man, Lord.” 

“ Neither do I condemn thee : go, and sin no more.” 


Jesus Pardons an Adulteress. 


251 


The adulteress forgiven. 


Dignity of Jesus. 


By these words Jesus did not convey the impression 
that he thought lightly of this fallen creature’s sin. 
He only meant to sav that it was not his function to 
pronounce legal judgment upon her. It is likely that 
the same divine force which roused the consciences of 
her accusers had awakened hers also. She was, we 
may hope, a truly penitent sinner, and when Jesus 
bade her go and sin no more, his looks, his tones, his 
unseen spiritual power, conveyed the unspoken mes- 
sage of pardon to her guilty heart. 


LXXVI 


THE PHARISEES ATTEMPT TO STONE JESUS. 



IIE next day found our Lord seated near the 


treasury chests, in the women’s court of the 


Temple, addressing the crowds which hung wonder- 
ing and delighted upon his lips. The Pharisees 
boldly disputed with him, but he maintained his 
ground with superior skill, and asserted his Mes- 
sianic claims with more than human dignity. (John 
viii, 12-20.) 

The day following he spoke of his mission and 
approaching death with such divine force as to com- 
mand the faith of many. His manifest success in- 


252 


Our King. 


Jesus insulted. Powerless rage. 

spired his ever watchful adversaries with spiteful pas- 
sion. Again they ventured to dispute. 

They insulted him with the scornful epithets they 
cast at him. He calmly replied to their cavils with 
convincing force, and finally proceeded to assert his 
Divine character in language which they well under- 
stood, saying with ineffable majesty : — 

“ Before Abraham was, I am.” (John viii, 20-5?*.) 
This sublime assumption of the Eternal name was 
more than these passionate men could endure. They 
looked upon it as blasphemy in the highest degree. 
Their dark eyes flashed with rage, and snatching 
stones from among the rubbish occasioned by the re- 
pairs of the Temple then in progress, they prepared 
to stone him. But in that moment of peril, while flee- 
ing from their fury like a man, he demonstrated his 
right to the claim of being also the most high God 
by throwing such a mysterious spell upon his foes as 
enabled him to pass, either unseen or unapproachable, 
through the astonished crowd out into the streets of 
the city. They were powerless to harm him because 
his appointed hour was not yet come. 


Return of the Seventy Disciples. 


253 


Seventy jubilant disciples. 


LXXVII. 

RETURN OF THE SEVENTY DISCIPLES. 

S ROM the excitements of the Temple Jesus ap- 
pears to have retired to the quietude of the 
Mount of Olives, where a few daj'S later, as is supposed, 
he received the report of the seventy disciples whom 
he had sent into Judea and Perea a month before. 
These simple-minded men were jubilant. They had 
found his name omnipotent, for even demons had 
obeyed them when adjured by it. After showing 
them that their personal heirship to an eternal inher- 
itance was of more consequence to them than even 
power over demons, Jesus burst into a sweet expres- 
sion of love toward his Father. The success of these 
men was symbolic to his foresight of the final and 
sudden overthrow of the kingdom of evil. His pro- 
phetic eye took in the spectacle of a world saved by 
men, weak as babes in the sight of men, but mighty 
through their faith in his name, to overthrow the long 
triumphant kingdom of darkness. (Luke x, 17-22.) 


254: 


Our King. 


A lawyer silenced. 


Bethany. 


LXXVIII. 


JESUS AND HIS FRIENDS AT BETHANY. 


[A. D. 28.] 



HE greater part of the month of October was 


most likely spent by our Lord in the environs 


of Jerusalem. Precisely where is unknown. The 
only known incident of the month is his conflict with 
a lawyer, who sought to ensnare him by subtle ques- 
tions, but who was put to silence by the instructive 
parable of the good Samaritan. (Luke x, 25-37.) 

Early in November we find him among his beloved 
friends at Bethany. This little village was about two 
miles from Jerusalem, and lay on the eastern slope 
of the Mount of Olives. It was charmingly embos- 
omed among oak, pomegranate, olive, and almond 
trees. It was a delightful retreat to which our Lord 
was wont to retire after his strifes with the Pharisees 
in the Temple, or his labors among the villages round 
about Jerusalem. But it was endeared to him, not 
merely tor the repose he enjoyed there, but for the 
pleasures of refined friendship which awaited him in 
one or two of its pleasant homes. A gentleman, 
named Lazarus, and his two sisters, Martha and Mary, 
were the attached and loving friends who made Beth- 
any so dear to him. Whether these persons formed 
one or two households is uncertain. Certain it is, 


Jesus and his Friends at Bethany . 


255 


An over-careful housewife. 

however, that on this visit they were together in the 
house of Martha. This lady appears to have been 
one of those good, bustling housewives, so rare in 
these modern times, to whom household matters are 
of the highest importance. She gloried in offering a 
generous hospitality to her adored Lord and his fol- 
lowers. By this she would show her esteem for her 
illustrious guest. But on the day of this feast she 
permitted herself to be unduly flurried in making 
preparations for the banquet. 

Yery naturally Martha relied somewhat upon her 
sister Mary for assistance. But she, good, thoughtful 
creature, was more intent on gathering the precious 
truths which fell like costly pearls from the lips of 
her Lord than on making provision for his bodily 
refreshment. Perhaps in this she was not wholly 
faultless. Our Lord was not disposed either to defend 
her or reprove Martha, until the latter, somewhat ruf- 
fled in spirit, and, perhaps, a little rude in manner, 
broke in upon his teachings by asking if he was in- 
different to her household burdens, and by begging 
him to send Mary to her assistance. 

Jesus, for whom the pleasures of the festal table 

had no charms, had a delicate task before him. He 

loved both of these admirable women. He did not 

wish to censure either. Nor did he. Looking kindly 

upon the flurried housekeeper, he said : — 

15 


256 


Our King. 


A delicate duty wisely performed. 

“Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled 
about many things : but one thing is needful ; and 
Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be 
taken away from her.” 

Then, with beautiful courtesy, did our Lord indicate 
to Martha that her hospitable concern for his enter- 
tainment was excessive. By bringing it within due 
bounds she might dispense with her sister’s help, and 
leave her undisturbed in her supreme devotion to her 
pursuit of spiritual knowledge, which, after all, was 
the one great need of the human soul. 

Of the effect of this reply on Martha’s disturbed 
feelings we are not informed. Doubtless its reminder 
that Jesus did not desire a burdensome hospitality at 
her hands soothed her. To its assertion that Mary’s 
supreme devotion to the pursuit of his truth was the 
highest need of life her own heart must have respond- 
ed, for was she not as genuine a lover of our Lord 
and as really loved by him as Mary ? 


Jesus Cures a Man who was Born Blind. 257 


The model prayer. 


The blind beggar. 


LXXIX. 

JESUS CURES A MAN WHO WAS BORN BLIND. 

LA. D. 28.] 



fi^OMETIME in November, while passing from 


Bethany to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, Jesus 
paused to pray in a retired nook of the mountain. 


At the close of his devotions he taught his disciples 


that beautiful model prayer, known as the “Lord’s 
Prayer,” and then proceeded to give them and the 
world the sweet, precious assurance, that earnest 
prayer is more certain of liberal answers than the 
cries of children for bread are to touch the heart of 
earthly parents. (Luke xi, 1-13.) 

After arriving in Jerusalem he saw a man in the 
street who had been blind from his birth. His disci- 
ples, who seem to have held, in common with many 
other Jews, a belief in the doctrine of the transmi- 
gration of souls, asked him whether this man’s blind- 

o ' 

ness was caused by some sin committed by him while 
living in some other body, or by some wrong on the 
part of his parents. “ For neither,” replied the Lord, 
and then he proceeded to anoint the man’s eyes with 
clay, which he made by wetting some dust with his 
spittle. His next act was to bid the man wash his 
eyes in the pool of Siloam. 

The singular spectacle of a blind man being led 


258 


Our King. 


The miracle. Rage of the Jews. 

through the city by his friends, with clay daubed upon 
his closed eyes, must have attracted a good deal of 
public attention. We can easily fancy the gathering 
crowd, the washing at the pool, the suddenly restored 
sight, and the excitement which followed when this 
well-known beggar returned rejoicing with his eyes 
opened. 

This wonderful miracle was reported, by spies, to 
the leading Jews, who became greatly excited, not 
with wonder at the mighty deed, but with rage be- 
cause it was performed on the Sabbath day. The 
Sanhedrin was called together, and the man sum- 
moned to appear before it. He told his wonderful 
story. Finding it impossible to controvert the mar- 
velous fact, they strove to make him denounce his 
healer because he had cured him on the Sabbath. 
This the grateful man resolutely refused to do, al- 
though, as yet, he knew not who had healed him. 
Then they pretended to question the truth of his story, 
and sent for his parents. They, poor, timid souls, 
admitted that their son was cured, but would express 
no opinion respecting his healer. Still seeking some 
way to inculpate Jesus, they sent again for the sub- 
ject of the miracle and strove to induce him to ac- 
cuse his healer. But the man, w 7 ith sturdy common 
sense, declared that the performance of this great act, 
which had never been equaled by mortal man since 


Jesus Cures a Man who was Born Blind. 259 


A victim of Jewish rage. An allegorical parable. 

the world began,* was proof enough that Jesus was 
a good man. They then vexed him with cross ques- 
tions, until he jeeringly asked them if they wished 
to become disciples of his unknown healer. 

This taunt was too much for that incensed body 
to endure. They lost their dignity in a whirlwind 
of passion. Their swarthy faces were distorted with 
rage. Fury flashed from their dark eyes. Fierce in- 
vectives rolled from their voluble tongues. They 
ordered him to be taken from the hall, and then pro- 
nounced sentence of excommunication upon him. 
This was a very serious punishment, cutting him 
off from his Jewish privileges, and exposing him 
to the further penalty of death at the will of the 
Sanhedrin. 

Jesus soon sought the victim of this blind fury, 
made himself known to him as the Son of God, and 
imparted that spiritual light which follows faith. At 
the same time, in replying to the captious Pharisees 
who dogged his steps, Jesus uttered one of his most 
beautiful discourses, setting forth his own benevolent 
character, and his sublime purpose to die for mankind, 
in the “allegorical parable” of the good Shepherd. 
(John x, 1-18.) 

* There is no instance on record of the cure of a man born stone 
blind either by natural means or by miracle, except by the hand of 
Jesus. See Kitto’s “Life of our Lord,” p. 346. 


260 


Our King. 


Friends and foes. Majesty of Jesus. 

This delightful discourse added to the number of 
his advocates. But his enemies used it as fuel to feed 
the fire of their hatred, and spitefully declared that 
he was a demoniac. 


LXXX. 

AT THE FEAST OF THE DEDICATION. 

[A. I>. 28.] 

f HE eight days’ festival, held annually to celebrate 
^ the re-opening of the Temple after its abolition 
by Antiochus, occurred a few days later; that is, be- 
tween November 30 and December 7. Our Lord 
seems to have spent this week at or near Jerusalem, 
teaching as usual. Spies of the Sanhedrin followed 
him constantly, interrupting him with questions as 
opportunities occurred. Some bold assertions of his 
equality with the eternal Father so irritated them 
one day that they threatened to stone him on the 
spot. But the majesty of his presence restrained 
them, and when they finally made an attempt to arrest 
him, his invisible power held them back while he 
boldly walked out of the Temple through the crowd, 
which opened to let him pass. (John x, 22-39.) 


A few Weeks at Bethabara. 


261 


On the banks of the Jordan. 


Evil tidings. 


LXXXI. 


A FEW WEEKS AT BETHABARA. 


[A. D. 28.] 



RINDING that the rage of his powerful foes in- 


creased, and being unwilling as yet to yield 
himself into their hands, Jesus left Jerusalem at the 
close of the festival, and went to Bethabara or Beth- 
any, on the east shore of the Jordan, in the province 
of Perea. This had once been the scene of the great 
Baptist’s labors. It was near a ford of the river, and 
was consequently much frequented. Jesus remained 
there several weeks teaching, working many miracles, 
and winning numerous converts. 


LXXXII. 


THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 


[A. D. 29. J 


S T length, in January probably, a messenger of 
evil tidings came to him from that other Beth- 
any he loved so well. “ Lord, behold, he whom thou 


lovestis sick,” was the sad, touching, but earnest mes- 


sage brought from his affectionate friends, Martha 
and Mary. They asked nothing, but their expecta- 
tion of relief was delicately expressed by the fact of 


A mysterious delay. 


Enigmatic words. 


sending him the information. Theirs was the confi- 
dence of love which said, it will suffice if we only 
tell him onr great sorrow. 

Jesus doubtless knew that his friend was already 
dead when the messenger arrived. But he vailed his 
knowledge beneath the ambiguous statement, “ This 
sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, 
that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” 
Thus saying he resumed his labors, and continued 
“ two days still in the same place where he was.” 

The explanation of his delay is to be found in 
his purpose to permit Lazarus to be buried, and the 
work of corruption to begin before he should restore 
him to life. Such a grand miracle would afford the 
highest possible attestation to his claims. And such 
a conspicuously divine work was needed to strengthen 
the faith of his disciples during his hours of humilia- 
tion and death which were approaching. Christ 
declared this when, after the two days, he plainly told 
his disciples that Lazarus was dead, and that he was 
going to Bethany. “I am glad for your sakes that I 
was not there, to the intent that ye might believe,” 
were his words. 

These words were enigmas at the time, but they 
became very plain to them in after years. What they 
saw now was the perilous nature of their Lord’s re- 
turn to Judea, where his enemies were watching like 


The Resurrection of Lazarus. 


263 


Four days dead. Words of hope. 

hungry wolves to take his life. Poor, despairing 
Thomas expressed the common feeling by saying to 
his companions : — 

“Let us also go, that we may die with him.” 

On reaching Bethany they found that Lazarus had 
been entombed four days. That is, he had died and 
was buried, according to custom, the day the messen- 
ger had reached Jesus. The two following days they 
had spent in Perea. The next, or fourth, had been 
taken up 'with their journey. Thus the dead man 
had been in his tomb four days. 

The coming of Jesus was announced to Martha 
first. With impulsive haste she ran to meet him. 
“Lord,” she cries in the half-reproachful tone of dis- 
appointed affection, “if thou hadst been here, my 
brother had not died ! ” and then, as if the mere pres- 
ence of her Lord had suddenly awakened a dim hope 
of relief even then, she added, “but I know that 
even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will 
give it thee.” 

“ Thy brother shall rise again,” replied Jesus with 
solemn emphasis. 

This reply directed her thoughts to the general 
resurrection at the last day, in which she freely ex- 
pressed her faith. This gave Jesus the opportunity 
of asserting that the keys of the grave were in his 
hands, and that the very principle of spiritual life was 


Our King. 


264 

Mary’s grief. The tears of Jesus. 

his gift. Questioning Martha as to her faith in him, 
he brought from her lips a strong confession of her 
belief in his Messiahship. 

Full of the inspiration of a revived faith, Martha 
hastened back to tell her sister, who was still sitting 
among her friends, too immersed in grief to notice 
her absence. Silently but hastily, like one whose 
swelling tide of sorrow seeks vent on the grave of its 
beloved, Mary went out to meet her adored teacher. 
Like her sister, she exclaims in piteous toiTes, “Lord, 
if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died ! ” 

These words seem to have unsealed the fountain 
of her tears, too long closed by the intensity of her 
sorrow, and she burst into a fit of weeping. Upon 
this the numerous friends of the family “ gathered to 
condole with them ” wept also.* 

The heart of Jesus was moved by the depth of 
Mary’s sorrow, and he wept in tender sympathy with 
her wounded heart. Yes, Jesus wept ! 

These manly tears drew from candid spectators the 
exclamation, “Behold how he loved him !” But his 

* It was a custom among the Jews for all the friends of bereaved 
families to visit and condole with them seven days continuously. “ A 
very characteristic description of what might be seen and heard at a Jew- 
ish grave is given by Lucian — the groans, wailing, and lamentations, 
the tearing of hair, and rending of garments, and casting dust upon 
the head, the smiting of the breasts, and beating the head on the 
ground, and the living more pitiable than the dead ” — Lange’s Life of 
Christ , vol. i, p. 47 1. 


Martha Calling Mary. 










f 













The Resurrection of Lazarus. 


267 


The protest. The mighty voice. 

enemies, who could see nothing beautiful in the Lord 
of life, whispered sarcastically, “ Could not this man, 
which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that 
even this man should not have died?” Strange per- 
versity of human hatred ! 

Jesus, guided to the tomb of his friend, bids them 
roll away the stone which closes its mouth. This un- 
usual command startles Martha, and she exclaims, by 
way of protest, “Lord, by this time he stinketh : for 
he hath been dead four days ! ” 

“ Martha,” replies Jesus solemnly, “ said I not unto 
thee, that, if thou wouldest believe thou shouldest see 
the glory of God ? ” 

Then followed one of the grandest scenes in the life 
of Jesus. With uplifted eyes he prayed aloud to his 
Father, asking him to make the act of raising Laz- 
arus from the dead “a divine seal to the truth that 
his whole mission was from God.” Having finished 
this prayer, he turned toward the open tomb and cried, 
in the loud tones of command : — 

“ Lazarus, come forth ! ” 

That mighty voice was heard in the shadowy king- 
dom of the dead. “ The soul of the soulless one 
flew back with longing eagerness to that innermost 
center of the body wherein was its home, and there 
all the spirits of life woke up. . . , The dead was 
raised to life,” and came forth, his hands and feet 


268 


Ouk King. 


Lazarus lives again. Purpose of the Sanhedrin. 

swathed with grave-clothes, and his face bound about 
with a napkin. At the command of Jesus his wrap- 
pings were loosed, and he walked in all the vigor of a 
living man to his now joyous home. 

This grandest of our Lord’s many grand miracles 
won many adherents to his side. It ought to have 
secured his acceptance as the Messiah * by all — the 
leaders of the Jews especially. But it did not. In- 
stead of this, it spurred the Sanhedrin to form a defi- 
nite and declared purpose to bring about his death. 
They did this on the plea of Caiaphas, that his mira- 
cles were winning the people to his side, and that if 
lie were proclaimed Messiah, as he was likely to be 
by the popular voice if he was left unmolested, civil 
w^ar must follow. Confident that Jesus was not such 
a personage as they required to fill their Messianic 
ideal and to re-establish the temporal glory of Israel, 
they devoted him to death. 

* Spinoza, celebrated for his Pantheistic writings, “ is reported as 
saying to his. friends, ‘that if it were possible for him to persuade 
himself of the resurrection of Lazarus, he would dash his whole sys- 
tem to pieces and embrace the faith of ordinary Christians without 
reluctance.’ ” — Kitto. 


Jesus in Retirement at Ephraim . 


269 


Waiting for Ms hour. 


Another missionary tour. 


LXXXIII. 


JESUS IN RETIREMENT AT EPHRAIM. 


[A. D. 89.] 



RESUS, knowing that they would abide by this 


cruel policy, withdrew himself from their imme- 
diate reach, and retired to the town of Ephraim, or 
Ephron, about fifteen or twenty miles north of Jeru- 
salem. Here, in the midst of beautiful scenery, he 
spent several weeks in undisturbed retirement with his 
disciples, waiting the coming of the passover pilgrim 
trains, of which advanced detachments would begin 
to come in from Galilee at the beginning of March. 


LXXXIV. 


CURE OF A DEFORMED WOMAN IN PEREA. 

[A. D. 29.] 

(Sg)UT before their arrival he made another mis- 
sionary tour in Perea, on the eastern side of the 
Jordan. His presence there attracted multitudes, 
who flocked from all parts to listen to his inimita- 
ble preaching and to witness his peerless deeds of 
healing. 

One of his wonderful works was the cure of a de- 


270 


Our King. 


A piteous spectacle. A cayiler silenced. 

formed woman. He was in the synagogue when this 
poor creature was brought in. She presented a piti- 
ful spectacle, certainly. Her body was “ bowed to- 
gether, and she could in no wise lift up herself.” It 
was a form of demoniacal disease and had continued 
eighteen years. A commanding word from Jesus re- 
stored her in a moment, and the happy woman burst 
into exclamations of grateful praise. 

But the narrow-minded president of the meeting, 
instead of being impressed with the grandeur of the 
deed, fretted his little soul because it was done on 
the Sabbath. Fixing his eyes angrily upon Jesus he 
gruffly said : — 

“ There are six days for labor ; on those days, there- 
fore, come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath 
day.” 

Well deserved was the stinging rebuke of our Lord. 
“Thou hypocrite,” he exclaimed, “doth not each of 
you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the 
stall and lead him away to watering? And this 
woman, . . . whom Satan hath bound, mark loell , 
these eighteen years, ought not she to be loosed from 
her bond on the Sabbath day ? ” 

This appeal to common sense and humanity shiv- 
ered the president’s false notion of Sabbath obligation 
to fragments. He was silenced. The people, who 
looked more at the glory of the deed than on rabbin- 


Care of a Deformed Woman in Perea. 271 


An uneasy king. Our fearless Lord. 

ical opinions, were greatly delighted with onr Lord’s 
“ triumphant self-vindication.” 

The great popularity of Jesus in Perea appears to 
have awakened uneasiness or jealousy in the mind of 
Herod Antipas. Hitherto this prince had felt more 
curious than alarmed about our Lord’s character and 
work. Now he wished to get him out of his domin- 
ions, and some of his pharisaic emissaries were instruct- 
ed to inform Jesus that if he did not quit Perea Herod - 
would kill him. 

“Go tell that fox,” retorted Christ with fearless and 
just severity, u behold, I cast out devils, and do cures 
to-day and to-morrow, and the third day I shall be 
perfected.” 

This was equivalent to saying that he would not go 
until his work was finished. He added that when he 
did leave it would not be through fear, but because 
it was his purpose to suffer in Jerusalem. Thus did 
our Lord show that he was superior to his enemies 
and master of his own life. 


272 


Our King. 


A dropsical man. Our forbearing Lord. 

LXXXV. 

A MAN WITH THE DROPSY HEALED. 

jTiT chanced one Sabbath that he was entertained by 
an eminent Pharisee. A poor man afflicted 
with dropsy made his way into the guest-chamber, and 
silently awaited the action of Jesus. Observing that 
the lawyers and Pharisees present were watching him 
with significant looks, our Lord asked them : — 

“ Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day ? ” 

His enemies made no reply. Either they feared 
to argue with such a disputant, or they knew that the 
Sanhedrin intended to accuse him of the higher crime 
of blasphemy, and to let the charge of Sabbath- 
breaking drop. Whatever their motive, their silence 
boded no good to the innocent object of their malig- 
nant hate. Jesus knew this, but nevertheless dis- 
played his Divine power by instantly curing his wait- 
ing patient. Then, replying to the unuttered thought 
of his foes, he asked which of them would not pull an 
ox or ass out of a pit on the Sabbath. This question 
they could not answer without justifying our Lord’s 
act. This they would not do, and therefore remained 
silent. 

The sublime forbearance of Jesus appears in the 
fact that, though he well knew what was passing in 
the minds of those evil-minded men, he proceeded to 


A Man with the Dropsy Healed. 


273 


Sweet parables. Precious truths. 

instruct them in the truths of his kingdom. He 
showed them the beauty of humility in one parable? 
(Luke xiv, 7-14,) and explained the method of ad- 
mission to the kingdom of God in another, (Matt, 
xxii, 1-14. 

Some of the sweetest parables of Jesus fell from his 
lips during this tour in Perea : such as the prodigal 
son, the unjust steward, the rich man and Lazarus, 
the unjust judge, the Pharisee and publican, and the 
laborers in the vineyard. As he drew near his earth- 
ly end he scattered the infinite wealth of his eternal 
mind in greater profusion than ever before among the 
thousands who flocked to listen. 

It was during these last journeyings that he taught 
the sanctity of marriage, and the sinfulness of divorce, 
except as a punishment for adultery. It was in Perea 
that when mothers brought their children to him for 
his blessing the disciples rebuked them, and were 
taught by his beautiful act of taking the little ones up 
into his arms, and by precept, that children are prop- 
er and welcome subjects of the kingdom of God. It 
was here too that the rich young man, who imagined 
himself without a fault, was made to see his utter self- 
ishness by a requirement to give his wealth to the 
poor and to take his place among the disciples. And 
it was here also the mother of Zebedee’s children, 

actuated by false conceptions of his Messianic king- 
13 


274 


Our King. 


Fearful disciples. Jesus marching to his doom. 

dom, requested posts of honor for her sons, and was 
taught that, in his kingdom, they who suffered most 
and did the humblest work were the greatest. 


LXXXVI. 

JESUS SETS OUT FOR JERUSALEM. 

[A. d. 

t T last, early in March, when the advance trains 
of passover pilgrims began to appear, Jesus di- 
rected his steps toward the ford of the Jordan oppo- 
site Jericho, with the evident purpose of going to 
Jerusalem. This purpose tilled his quailing disciples 
with great fear. They knew the deadly purpose of 
the Sanhedrin. They felt that in going to Jerusa- 
lem their Master was marching to meet the doom of 
death. 

Jesus knew it, too. He comprehended the full bit- 
terness of his approaching destiny, but he did not 
fear it. With divine foreknowledge he spread before 
them the details of his sufferings, even to the 
scourging and being spit upon, which should pre- 
cede his violent death. These things he tried to 
make them understand were necessary to the accom- 
plishment of the purpose for which he came into 
the world But there was a light shining over all 

O o 


Jesus sets out for Jerusalem. 


275 


Jesus alone In his sorrows. The blind men’s cry. 

this darkness. On the third day he would rise from 
the dead. 

Poor, half-blind disciples ! They could understand 
that he meant to yield himself to the shame of a vio- 
lent death. Why this was necessary, how it was a 
fitting fate for the Messiah, or what rising on the 
third day meant, they could not comprehend. They 
were sorrow-stricken. Among them all there was not 
one who could offer real sympathy to the willing 
victim, and, therefore, it was that Jesus, though he 
had many friends, was left to carry all the sorrows of 
his mysterious passion on his own shoulders. He 
must tread the wine-press alone. 

After crossing the Jordan Jesus proceeded to 
Jericho, through 
which he passed 
without stopping. 

Just beyond the 
city were two 
blind men beg- 
ging. The noise 
of the vast crowd 
who followed our 
Lord fell on their 
ears, and led one 
of them, named Bartimeus, to inquire what it meant. 
On learning that Jesus was passing by, they began to 



Our King. 


276 

A restoring touch. A curious publican. 

cry after him. The crowd rebuked them. They 
persisted. Jesus bade their friends bring them to 
him. Dropping their tattered and dusty robes, they 
obeyed. His mighty word and touch restored their 
lost sight, filled them with enthusiastic joy, and made 
the multitude wild with exultation and wonder. 


LXXXVII. 



ZACCHEUS, THE GENUINE PENITENT. 

NOTHER remarkable occurrence now took 
place. A little man named Zaccheus, curious 

to behold the person 
of Jesus, climbed a 
wide-spreading syca- 
more or wild fig tree.* 
When the Lord came 
to the tree he saw 
the little man sitting 
among its branches. 
Pausing, he bade him 
descend quickly, for 
he wished entertain- 
ment at his house. 


* Not our sycamore maple, but an evergreen fig-tree of noble 
growth, glossy green leaves, once abundant in Palestine. Its fruit is 


Zaccheus, the Genuine Penitent. 


277 


A generous sacrifice amply repaid. 

This command fell on willing ears. Zaccheus, happy 
to be thus honored by so distinguished a personage, 
welcomed Jesus to his home. 

Zaccheus was a tax-gatherer, and, therefore, a man 
despised by the Jews. Hence, when our Lord en- 
tered his habitation he incurred the outspoken cen- 
sures of the volatile multitude. But his host speedily 
proved himself to be made of nobler stuff than his 
babbling enemies. The words of his illustrious guest 
sunk into his heart, won it in truth, so that, in the 
spirit of a truly regenerated man, he at once avowed 
his purpose to give half his great wealth to the poor, 
and to restore the fourfold required by law to any 
man from whom lie might have taken money wrong- 
fully. The warm approval of Jesus am pi y repaid 
him for this generous sacrifice on the altar of peni- 
tence and love. 

The words of our Lord, addressed to Zaccheus, re- 
vived those expectations of his assumption of an 
earthly Messianic throne which, in spite of his repeat- 
ed teachings to the contrary, his disciples still cher- 

borne several times a year on little twigs which shoot out from its 
trunk. Its wood is tough aud durable, and was anciently much used 
for making coffins and mummy cases. So says Callicott’s “Scripture 
Herbal,” but Thomson, in his “Land and the Book,” says: “The 
wood of the sycamore is soft and of very little value.” We can only 
reconcile these opposite statements by supposing that there may have 
been two varieties of the sycamore in ancient times, the tougher of 
which no longer exists. 


278 


Our King. 


From Jericho to Bethany. 

ished. To correct their false notions he 
taught them the spiritual nature of his 
kingdom in the parable of the nobleman 
and his servants. (Luke xix, .11-27.) 


LXXXVIII. 

CHRIST’S LAST SABBATH BEFORE HIS 
DEATH. 

LA. D. 3JK] 

JFT is not certain whether Jesus spent 
(sJk his last Sabbath before his crucifixion 
at Jericho or Bethany. We incline to the 
opinion of those harmonists who think 
he journeyed from Jericho, through the 
rough, dangerous road which led to the 
uplands of Judea, on Friday. It w r as nat- 
ural that the pilgrims with whom he prob- 
ably traveled should be anxious to reach 
the environs of the Holy City before the 
Sabbath. It would seem fitting, too, that 
Jesus should choose to spend that Sabbath in the calm 
retirement of Bethany and in communion with his 
most loving friends. 



A Festal Scene at the Home of Simon. 279 


Simon’s entertainment. 


Mary’s tender devotion. 


LXXXIX. 


A FESTAL SCENE AT THE HOUSE OF SIMON. 



& FTER the Sabbath hours were past it appears 
that Jesus was entertained at the residence of 
an intimate friend of Lazarus named Simon. Martha, 
like the true housewife she was, showed her affection 
by waiting at the table. Mary, more spiritual in her 
nature, chooses this hour, so sacred. to holy friendship, 
to celebrate, consciously or unconsciously, we know 
not which, her Lord’s approaching death. Silently 
she enters the festal chamber with an alabaster box 
of precious ointment of spikenard in her hand. 
Breaking off the 
top of the case, she 
pours a portion of 
the aromatic oil 
upon the head of 
Jesus. Then hum- 
bly kneeling be- 
hind his couch she 
wipes the dust off 
his feet with her 
flowing hair and 
anoints them also. It was an act of tender devotion 
— of a princely love which thought nothing too costly, 
too pure, or too precious for its Divine object, who, as 


A. traitor’s question. 


Mary’s reward. 


her prophetic soul may have dimly presaged, was 
about to suffer the bitter pains of a mysterious death. 

So quiet had been her movements that they had 
not been perceived by the guests generally, until the 
delicious odor of the ointment filled the chamber 
“as if it had been a king’s hall.” Then, while all 
looked with surprise on Mary, one, and he a traitor 
in intention, the selfish, calculating Judas, spoke to 
the disciples nearest him at the table and asked : — 

“To what purpose was this waste ? Why was not 
this ointment sold for three hundred denarii ($45) for 
the benefit of the poor ? ” 

These words, spoken in indignant tones, awoke cen- 
sorious feelings and murmurs in those who listened. 
The harmony of the feast was now broken. Mary, 
who had only thought of doing honor to her Lord, 
felt herself arraigned as a criminal before him by his 
most intimate associates. She must have suffered the 
pangs of mental crucifixion. But it was only for a 
moment. Jesus quickly became her defender. He 
justified her by explaining that her affectionate act 
was in reality a symbol of his coming death and 
burial. He rebuked her critics, and honored her by 
declaring that the story of her loving devotion should 
be told throughout the earth for evermore. 


Great Excitement in Jerusalem. 


281 


Orders for the arrest of Jesus. 


xc. 

GREAT EXCITEMENT IN JERUSALEM. 

EANWHILE there was great excitement in 
Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin, resolved to pro- 
ceed to extremities, had given positive orders to the 
officers of the Temple guard for the arrest of Jesus, 
and by proclamations had required all persons know- 
ing of his whereabouts to give information. 

The crowd who had come to attend the passover 
were also greatly excited, and eager to see him whose 
name was either blessed or denounced by every lip. 
Tidings of his arrival had been brought by the pil- 
grims who had come in from Jericho. The story of 
the raising of Lazarus from the dead was enthusiast- 
ically told. The heart of the people was stirred to 
its lowest depth. 


XCI. 

THE FESTAL MARCH OF JESUS INTO JERUSALEM. 

[A. D. 29.] 

T^fTNAWED by the threats and orders of the San- 
igr hedrin, confident of his power to control pop- 
ular feeling, Jesus proceeded on Sunday morning 
(March 13) to make his entrance into Jerusalem in 
a manner worthy of his royal character. Not as one 



A royal march. 


Intense excitement. 


seeking to escape his enemies would lie go, in secrecy 
and darkness, but openly and grandly, as the long 
predicted king of Zion. Accordingly, leaving Beth- 
any, he ascended the ridge of Mount Olivet. Near 
by was a little village named Bethphage. At this 
place two of his disciples, following his singular, but 
prophetic directions, (see Matt, xxi, 1-7,) procured a 
colt which had never been mounted, and spread their 
garments upon its back. No sooner was he seated 
on this animal than his disciples and the multitude 
around them, as if inspired by a power above them- 
selves, spread their cloaks upon the road, cut down 
branches from the palms, strewed them in his path, 
and rent the air with loud hosannas to the Son of 

David. As they 
advanced the ex- 
citement became in- 
tense. Men told 
each other of the 
wonders they had 
seen Jesus perform. 
Those who had wit- 
nessed the resur- 
rection of Lazarus 
were especially en- 
thusiastic in their praise of that peerless miracle. 
By and by the descending multitude was met by 



Festal March of Jesus into Jerusalem . 283 


Acclamations of the people. 

crowds of pilgrims from the city on their way to see 
Lazarus at Bethany. These caught the spirit of the 
hour and joined in the acclamations, until the beau- 
tiful gardens which then covered old Olivet echoed 
and re-echoed the cries of “Hosanna to the Son of 
David. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the 
Lord. Ilosanna in the highest ! ” 

This jubilant march of Jesus stung some Pharisees, 
who were there to watch his movements, with pangs 
of despair. They felt that Jesus was stronger at 
that moment than their Sanhedrin. Yet they sought 
to check the proceedings by appealing against them 
to Jesus. But he, speaking in his kingly character, 
declared that if the people were silent the stones of 
the city walls, which now only echoed their voices, 
would find tongues with which to proclaim his 
approach. 

Thus his festal march continued down the slope of 
Olivet, the procession increasing, and its songs wax- 
ing louder and louder as it wound through the thou- 
sands of tents and booths which at the passover dot- 
ted the mountain side. Presently he arrived at a 
point from whence a splendid view of the whole city 
burst upon his vision.* Its magnificence arrested his 
* There is a point of the southern road from Bethany from which, 
says Stanley, the whole city rising up, as it were, out of a deep abyss, 
is suddenly beheld in all its extent. This way'have been the spot on 
which our Lord uttered his compassionate cry over the city. 


284 


Our King. 


The doom of Jerusalem pronounced. 

attention, only to fill his eyes with tears of pity for its 
coming fate. As its rejected Lord, he wept over its 
folly : as its Divine judge, he pronounced its doom. 
Jesus, the man, wept; Jesus, the God, condemned. 

The vast procession moved on, down through the 
valley of the Cedron, past the garden of Gethsemane, 
so soon to be the mute witness of his midnight agony, 
through the city gates, up to the Temple courts. So 
great was the number of the multitude, and so exult- 
ant their shouts, that the whole city was agitated, and 
the inquiry, “Who is this grand personage?” passed 
from lip to lip. The answer, “ This is Jesus, the 
prophet of Nazareth of Galilee,” as Lange remarks, 
“was as if the first chilling breeze had already blown 
upon them in the city and lowered the tone of their 
acknowledgment.” 

Still acting as Israel’s king, Jesus, with divine 
authority, repeated his former act of driving money 
changers and traders from the Temple precincts. He 
then with more than royal bounty scattered gifts of 
healing upon all who came to ask his gracious help, 
amid the cries of “Hosanna to the Son of David,” 
which now resounded from the lips of children as 
well as of adults, through the courts and arches of the 
stately building. 

The scene was maddening to his enemies, who dared 
not touch his sacred person in presence of such popular 


Festal March of Jesus into Jerusalem . 285 


Sarcastic question answered. 


Eetum to Bethany. 


manifestations in his favor. They were forced, for 
the moment, to content themselves with the sarcastic 
question, asked from sneering lips, “ Hearest thou 
what these say % ” 

“Yes,” he replied, “and I approve. Have ye 
never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings 
thou hast perfected praise ? ” 

To this assumption of his Divine right to human 
praise his enemies could offer no reply. And as the 
evening shadows were beginning to fall upon the 
Temple court Jesus quietly withdrew. Accompa- 
nied by his disciples only, he returned “ over the dark 
Mount of Olives” to his friends in Bethany, strength- 
ened, by the triumph of this “great Palm Sunday,” 
for the fearful trials which he knew awaited him. 


XCII. 

A FIG-TREE WITHERED BY THE CURSE OF JESUS. 

[A. D. 29.[ 



ERY early on the following (Monday) morning. 


March 14, our Lord left Bethany, intending. 


probably, to reach the Temple before it was crowded 
with worshipers. For some unknown reason he had 
taken no morning meal, and while on the way be- 
came hungry. A lone fig-tree, growing in a sheltered 


286 


Our King. 


Jesus the supreme Judge. 


J. 



spot, drew his attention by its green leaves. It was 
too early in the season to expect figs, except on an 

early species in 
protected places. 
But as the fig usu- 
ally comes with or 
before the leaves, 
there was reason 
for his expecting 
to find fruit on this 
one. On finding 
it barren, Jesus 
startled his disci- 


ples by saying : — 

“ Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward, forever ! ” 
In an instant the shriveling leaves of that barren 
tree proved that he who as man could hunger, could 
as supreme Judge smite with the curse of judgment. 
Thus did Jesus, when about to yield himself up to 
his enemies, symbolize his mission to judge the world 
in the last day. No wonder the disciples marveled 
when, on the following morning, they saw that tree 
dried up from the roots.” The curse of its Creator 
had destroyed it! 

During that day our Lord taught the attentive mul- 
titude unmolested by his enemies. His great popu- 
larity with the mass of the people made the Sanhe- 



A Fig-tree Withered by the Curse of Jesus. 287 


A cunning deputation. 


A painful dilemma. 


drin afraid to arrest, him publicly. Hence they con- 
spired secretly, and resolved to vex him with captious 
questions on the succeeding day. 


XCIII. 


A DAY OF SUCCESSFUL DISPUTATIONS. 



CCORDINGLY. on Tuesday (March 15) our 


Lord had scarcely come in from Bethany, be- 


fore he was assailed by a deputation from the Sanhe- 
drin with the demand, “ By what authority doest thou 
these things? and who gave thee this authority?” 

This question, so fair in appearance, was intended 
to draw out some avowals respecting himself which 
they might, by distorting, use to discredit him before 
the people. But Jesus foiled them with this counter 
question, “Was the baptism of John from heaven or 
of men ? ” 

Those cunning men saw at a glance that they were 
outwitted. If they conceded the divine character of 
John’s mission, they were bound to accept Jesus, to 
whose Messialiship John had borne witness. If they 
denied it, they were sure to excite tumult among the 
people, who firmly believed in the prophetic charac- 
ter of John. They were in a painful dilemma, and 
were compelled to humiliate themselves by an evasive 


288 


Our King. 


Our Lord’s questioners confounded. 

confession of ignorance. “We cannot tell,” they 
said. Very property, Jesus then refused to tell them 
whence he derived his authority, for it was self-evi- 
dent that if they were, by their own confession, 
incompetent to judge in John's case, they must be 
equally incompetent to decide in his. 

Having thus silenced and shamed his malignant 
questioners, Jesus proceeded to instruct and reprove 
them by the parables of the “ two sons ” and of the 
“ vineyard.” (Matt, xxi, 28-44.) 

Perceiving that these parables were illustrations of 
their own misconduct, and predictions of their own 
wretched destiny, the deputation withdrew in a great 
rage, and reported their discomfiture to the Sanhedrin. 
Again there was much consultation in that exasper- 
ated body respecting the seizure of our Lord’s person, 
and again their fear of the people held them back 
from what seemed to be a dangerous attempt. Nev- 
ertheless, they resolved to make another effort to en- 
trap him by cunning questions. This time some 
Herodians from Galilee were chosen to be their 
instruments. 

These men proceeded to their wicked work with 
many hypocritical compliments, designed to throw 
Jesus off his guard. Coining to the point at last, 
they asked him, “ Is it lawful to give tribute unto 
Cesar, or not ? ” 


A Day of Successf ul Disputations. 2 SO 


A political question. A profound reply. 

This was a political question, and so maliciously 
ingenious, it seemed that their intended victim could 
not frame a reply without injury to himself. If he 
decided squarely for the rightfulness of tribute he 
would lose his popularity, for there was scarcely a 
Jew who did not hate the Roman yoke. If he con- 
demned the payment of tribute he laid himself open 
to impeachment before Pilate in Judea, or Herod in 
Galilee, should he return thither. 

Jesus first tore the mask from their false faces by 
saying, “Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?” and 
then asked them to show him a piece of tribute 
money. They gave him a denarius , (worth about 
fifteen cents.) “ Whose image and superscription is 
this?” he asked after looking at the coin. 

“Cesar’s,” they reply. 

“Then render unto Cesar the things which are 
Cesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s,” 
was his unexpected and confounding response. It 
silenced his wondering enemies, and they slunk away 
covered with confusion. 

It is no wonder that they marveled, for, as Lange 
remarks, “ This word of the Lord is one of the most 
wonderful flashes of great and instantaneous presence 
of mind which occur in his whole life.” It was also 
wonderfully profound and far-reaching. Brief and 
simple though it be, it comprehends the whole theory 


290 


Our King. 


New devices. A difficult problem. 

of political and religious liberty. It teaches that 
there is a sphere for the authority of the State which 
is to be respected ; there is also a religious sphere 
with which the State has nothing to do, in which 
God’s voice alone is to be obeyed. God is the only 
Lord of the inner life. Had this grand truth always 
been recognized in Christ’s Church the Christian 
world would never have stained itself with martyr- 
blood. 

But the devices of our Lord’s enemies were not yet 
exhausted. Though twice discomfited, they again 
renewed their attempt to confound him with intricate 
questions. This time the Sadducees made the assault. 
They rejected the doctrine of the resurrection of the 
body, which, as was well known, Jesus taught very 
distinctly. Putting their objection into an illustrative 
case, made possible under the Mosaic law, by which 
one woman might become successively the wife of 
seven brothers, they cunningly required him to state 
whose wife she would be in the resurrection. 

There was probably no man in the temple that day 
who could disentangle the doctrine of the resurrection 
from the horns of this skillfully arranged dilemma. 
But our Lord did it with perfect ease by showing that 
in the future state the carnal relations of this life have 
no existence. There will be no marriage there, be- 
cause distinctions of sex will be abolished, and both 


A Day of Successful Disputations. 


291 


A conclusive reply. Applause of Christ’s wisdom. 

men and women be “ as the angels of God in heaven.” 
Then, as if to complete their discomfiture, he proved 
the doctrine of the resurrection by the fact that God 
had named himself after their deceased patriarchs. 
This he could not have done if the patriarchs had 
been absolutely dead. “ As God he lives for them 
who live. He continues to live for Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob, and these continue to live for him.” 

To this conclusive answer the Sadducees could 
make no rejoinder. They were beaten vrith their own 
weapons. The people, who always side with the 
stronger party, were full of admiration for the great 
Teacher, and even the scribes, in their gratification at 
seeing their doc- 
trinal adversaries 
worsted, could not 
help exclaiming:— 

“ Master, thou 
hast well said ! ” 

The Pharisees 
seeing that Jesus 
had thus far main- 
tained an unques- 
tioned superiority 
in this mental strife which they had provoked, now 
put forward a lawyer, who asked him which was the 
greatest of all the commandments. This man hoped 



292 


Our King. 


The Pharisees’ champion. The Pharisees confounded. 

that Jesus, by giving superior importance to some one 
law, would offend the popular mind, which held that 
all the divine commands were of equal importance. 
The reply of Jesus was both original and profound. 
He quoted the two laws which required love to God 
and to one’s neighbor, and then affirmed that on these 
two “hang all the law and the prophets.” The ripe 
wisdom of this reply filled the lawyer with an admira- 
tion which he was sufficiently honest to openly con- 
fess, very much to the chagrin of the Pharisees, who 
had made him their champion. Jesus honored his 
frankness by saying to him : — 

“Thou art not far from the kingdom of God !” 
Having silenced all his questioners, Jesus now 
turned upon his adversaries, who were still collected 
in a group before him, and questioned them. 
“Whose son is Christ?” he asks. They reply, “The 
son of David.” “ But,” he rejoins, “ David in the 
Psalms calls him Lord, how is he then his son ? ” 

This question, which revealed the mystery of Mes- 
siah’s, that is, his own, character, as being both the 
son of man and the Son of God, struck his enemies 
dumb. Perhaps, like a flash of lightning irradiating 
the gloom of night, it gave them a momentary 
glimpse of the dignity of the Divine man before them. 
If it did they resolutely closed their eyes to the un- 
welcome light. They would not own as Messiah any 


A Day of Successf ul Disputations . 


293 


Scathing rebukes. Popular enthusiasm chilled. 

one who would not lead them to the recovery of 
David’s earthly throne with carnal weapons and vest- 
ure dipped, not in his own sacrificial blood, but in 
that of their Roman masters. Their minds were too 
grossly dark to discover any beauty or comeliness in 
a Messiah whose sole object was to give spiritual life 
to the souls of men. 

Knowing that in their hearts they thus rejected 
him, Jesus turned to the listening and awe-stricken 
multitude and drew such a picture of the Pharisees, 
and uttered such scathing denunciations of their con- 
duct, as must have made those bad men shudder. He 
closed his terrible utterances with the authoritative 
declaration, that the Divine judgments would speedily 
fall upon the nation, and that their beautiful, but 
guilty, Jerusalem would after a short time become a 
desolation. (Matt, xxiii, 1-39.) 

It is quite likely that this bold prediction of the 
coming destruction of the city of their pride did much 
toward cooling the enthusiasm of the people for Jesus. 
No doubt the scene of the preceding Sunday morn- 
ing had led them to expect some speedy manifesta- 
tion of Messianic power on the part of Jesus, by 
which their long-deferred hope of the restoration of 
David’s temporal throne would be satisfied, and Jeru- 
salem become the chief city of the world. Instead of 
this, they are told by him whom they had hailed a9 


294 


Our King. 


The greatest offering. 

the son of David that impending destruction hangs 
over them and their beloved city. Can we wonder 
that the fervor of their enthusiasm began to melt like 
snows before the spring-tide sun ? 

Leaving the Pharisees to pursue their conspiracy 
against his life, and the perplexed crowd to muse over 
his appalling words, Jesus appears to have quietly 
moved a short distance from the scene of these pro- 
tracted discussions, to a seat near the chests which 
held the contributions of the people for the support 
of the Temple services. There, for a brief space, he 
silently watched the coming and going of the con- 
tributors, rich and poor. He said nothing until a 
poor widow dropped two lepta (about two mills) into 

the chest. Then 
he told his disci- 
ples that her paltry 
offering was real- 
ly greater than any 
made by the rich. 
The latter had only 
given fragments 
from their abun- 
dant stores ; she 
had given her all. 
Thus did our Lord give a practical application to the 
rebukes of the proud Pharisees who devoured widows’ 



The Widow’s Greatest Gift 











fc 













A Day of Successful Disputations. 


297 


Greek inquirers. A mistake corrected. 

houses, which had just fallen from his sacred lips. 
And thus also did he teach the world that his “mas- 
ter-glance of love” discovers more beauty in the pure 
love of the most humble worshiper than in the richest 
gifts of self-loving pretenders to discipleship. 


XCIV. 

LAST WORDS OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE. 

( /^\ UR Lord’s attention was now called, by Andrew 

and Philip, to a party of Greeks in the outer court 
who had expressed a very earnest wish to see him. 
These men, being only “proselytes of the gate,” were 
not permitted to enter the women’s court, where Jesus 
was. But desiring to gratify their wish, he conde- 
scendingly went out into the court of the Gentiles 
and addressed them in some very remarkable words. 
Knowing, probably, that, like their Jewish teachers, 
they expected to see in the Messiah a mighty tem- 
poral monarch, able to reward his followers with 
riches and honors, Jesus, to correct their false notions, 
told them of his coming death ; and that, to be his dis- 
ciples, they must sacrifice the selfish hope of finding 
their happiness in the things of this world, and must seek 
their highest enjoyment in the spiritual life which he 


298 


Our King. 


Premonitory pains. A celestial voice. 

was about to purchase for them with his own life. 
(John xii, 20-26.) 

At this allusion to his approaching death, his divine 
foresight of the agony it involved appears to have 
stirred his human soul with mysterious apprehensions. 
The premonitory pains of his atoning anguish seized 
him. At first he shrank from the terrible ordeal, but 
only for an instant. Meekly yielding his shrinking 
human will to the grand purpose for which he had 
come into the world, his fear suddenly changed to 
exultant joy, and looking up to heaven, he said : — 

“Father, glorify thy name.” 

Immediately the voice which had spoken at his 
baptism, and at his transfiguration, broke from the 
clear sky, saying distinctly, “ I have glorified it, and 
will glorify it again.” Multitudes heard this celestial 
voice, but all did not understand what it said. Many 
whispered, “ It thundered ! ” “ Kay,” replied others, 

“an angel spoke to him.” Jesus did not interpret it 
to such. To those who did comprehend it, he said that 
it had spoken, not for his benefit, but for their sakes. 
And then he again predicted his coming death on the 
cross, and its subsequent mighty effects on mankind. 

His hearers were perplexed. A voice from heaven 
had attested his superhuman character. He had pre- 
dicted his own crucifixion. These were seemingly 
contradictory facts which they could not harmonize. 


Last Words of Jesus in the Temple. 


299 


A caution. 


Last words. 


Conceding that he might be the Messiah, they asked 
him to reconcile the Scriptures which taught the per- 
petuity of Christ’s reign with this mysterious predic- 
tion of his coming death on the cross. 

But Jesus, knowing the unyielding stubbornness 
with which their hearts clung to the idea of a carnal 
Messiah, made no further attempt to solve the strange 
enigma. He simply cautioned them not to despise 
the light he had given, but to so follow it as to be- 
come “children of light.” (John xii, 30-36.) 

These were his last words spoken to the people in 
the Temple. His public ministry was now ended. 
Rejected by the heads of the Jewish hierarchy, and not 
accepted by the people in his true character, he turned 
sadly away and descended the Temple steps into the 
streets of the guilty city, which was about to add to its 
long list of crimes the crowning infamy of his death. 


XCV 


FALL OF JERUSALEM AND END OF THE WORLD. 



S they were leaving the Temple, some of his 


disciples, with genuine Jewish pride, called his 


attention to its massive and costly stones, its precious 
votive offerings, its magnificent proportions, and its 
peerless beauty as it stood glistening in the evening 
sunlight “like a white mountain of snow. 


300 


Our King. 


Depressed disciples. Prophetic words. 

The reply of Jesus startled and silenced them. It 
was a solemn prediction of its utter destruction. 

Filled with mournful thoughts and painful appre- 
hensions, the disciples followed the Master out of 
the city, and along the well-known road to Bethany. 
As they ascended the Mount of Olives, some of them 
appear to have gone forward in advance of the others, 
perhaps to announce their Master’s approach to his 
friends in Bethany. Then, seating himself in full 
view of the Temple, Jesus gazed sadly on the beautiful 
city which he knew, by his omniscience, was destined 
to a terrible overthrow. Presently, the four disciples, 
still with him, went to his side and asked him two 
distinct questions: 1. When would the city be de- 
stroyed ? 2. When would his second coming and the 

end of the world take place? These inquiries he 
answered at length. (See Matt, xxiv and xxv for his 
reply to the first question, and Matt, xxv, 31-46 for 
his answer to the second.) 

After finishing these sublime predictions, part of 
which became literal history in less than half a cen- 
tury, he added yet another concerning himself, namely, 
that on the coming feast day, Friday, he should be 
betrayed and crucified. 

As the evening twilight faded he arose and walked 
in sad silence along the moonlit path up the mountain, 
followed by his four depressed and anxious disciples, 


Fall of Jerusalem and End of the World. 301 


Jesus in retirement. A bitter conclave. 

into the village of Bethany. In this quiet retreat lie 
appears to have spent Wednesday and Thursday in 
retirement, preparing himself by communion with 
his Father for the fearful tragedy which he knew 
awaited him on the coming Friday. Of his thoughts 
and feelings during those silent hours we know noth- 
ing. May we not presume that the burden of his 
prayer is expressed in these prophetic words of 
David : — 

u Be not far from me ; for trouble is near ; for there 
is none to help.” 


XCVI. 

JUDAS BARGAINS TO BETRAY HIS MASTER. 
X^fc^HILE Jesus was on his way to Bethany that 


Tuesday evening his enemies were holding a 
conclave at the palace of the high-priest in Jerusa- 
lem. They were in a most bitter mood. Jesus had 
that day signally defeated them in argument in the 
presence of the people. This victory and his subse- 
quent scathing words had stung them as with the 
stings of adders. They were bent on taking the life 
of the Innocent One. Their object, in this confiden- 
tial meeting, w T as to determine how to reach that in- 
famous end. Their passion moved them to seize him 


302 


Our King. 


Purpose of the Pharisees. The arch traitor. 

openly in the Temple. But his evident popularity 
with the people deterred them. They feared an up- 
rising of the crowd in his defense. Hence their con- 
clusion was to wait until after the passover festival, 
and the consequent departure of the tens of thousands 
of visitors who chiefly constituted the crowds which 
daily thronged the city streets and the Temple 
courts. 

This was their purpose. But Jesus willed it other- 
wise. It was fitting that, as the sacrificial Lamb typi- 
fied for ages in the slaughter of unnumbered paschal 
lambs, he should shed his atoning blood on the very 
day of the feast. Had he not also said he would do 
so? If those wicked men would destroy his sacred 
life, an invisible Providence would so influence their 
malignant wills as to make them subserve its own 
purposes. How was this done ? 

By no less a personage than the arch traitor, Judas. 
Whether he lingered behind in Jerusalem or retraced 
his steps from Olivet on that fatal evening is unknown. 
The former is probable. Fie was offended with his 
Master, whose merited rebuke on the night of his 
anointing by Mary at Simon’s house had stung him 
to the quick. His black soul had not been won by 
the beauty of his Master, but had proved itself to be 
an evil soil, producing a rank growth of covetous- 
ness, ambition, resentment, and other impure weeds. 


Judas Bargains to Betray his Master. 303 


Judas in the palace. The fatal bargain. 

Knowing the purpose of the hierarchy to kill Jesus, 
he, with thievish cunning, resolved to indulge his own 
greed of gold by becoming a minister of their revenge. 
Accordingly, as w T e may probably suppose, having 
noticed the movement of members of the Sanhedrin 
toward the mansion of Caiaphas, he lingered round 
its portals, parleying with his own vile thoughts, un- 
til, having worked his will up to the desperate point, 
he stole in. Having made himself known, and stated 
his belief that it would be within his power to put 
Jesus into their hands privately, he asked them how 
much they were willing to pay for such service ? Glad 
to find such, an unexpected ally, the conspirators 
agreed to pay him thirty pieces of silver.* Having 
made this vile bargain, Judas left the palace to hang 
round his Master as a false-hearted spy, with hypocrit- 
ical face, until the opportunity should arrive for per- 
petrating the dastardly crime which was to ruin his 
soul and make him an object of endless detestation to 
men and angels. The opportunity to commit it did 
not arrive until the night preceding the feast-day, as 
we know. And thus it came to pass that, although the 
Sanhedrin resolved not to crucify Jesus on the feast- 

* If these silverlings were staters they represented about $18. If 
they were shekels , as Kitto supposes, the bribe amounted in actual 
value to $50. Not an unfair price for the little service to be rendered 

a service which, as Kitto suggests, might have been rendered by an 

ordinary spy hired to watch the footsteps of Jesus. 


304 : 


Our King. 


A mysterious direction. An unnamed man. 

day, they were led to do so in fulfillment of their divine 
victim’s own prophecy, through the instrumentality 
of Judas, the prince of traitors. Was not this a most 
marvelous concurrence of circumstances? 


XCVII. 

DIRECTIONS CONCERNING THE PASCHAL SUPPER. 

[A. D. 39.] 

N Thursday the disciples asked Jesus where he 
intended to keep the passover. He gave two 
of them, Peter and John, a direction akin in its mys- 
tery to the one he had given respecting the colt on 
which he had made his festal entry into Jerusalem 
the previous Sunday. They were to go into the city, 
where they were to find a man bearing a pitcher of 
water. This was a task usually assigned to women, 
and very rarely performed by a man. This man they 
were to follow into his abode and say to him these 
strange words : u The Master saith unto thee, My time 
is at hand. Where is the guest-chamber, where 1 
shall eat the passover with my disciples?” Upon 
this they were assured that the unnamed man would 
show them a suitable chamber. 

Who this unnamed man was, and what disposed 





Directions Concerning the Paschal Supper. 305 


Our Lord’s adieu to Bethany. 

him to give the use of his chamber so readily, as we 
learn he did, cannot be known. He may have been 
one of our Lord’s personal friends. Probably the 
power of the Master accompanied his message and 
touched the man’s heart. The reason of his myste- 
rious description may possibly be found in his pre- 
sumed desire to conceal the place from Judas, lest 
that false man should betray it to the Sanhedrin and 
secure his arrest before the supper was ended. Be 
this as it may, the man was found, the paschal supper 
prepared, and on Thursday, March IT, toward even- 
ing, our Lord left Bethany for the last time to go to 
Jerusalem to eat his last meal with the twelve, to 
suffer and to die. The pains of his sacrificial death 
were before him. Yet he shrank not, but went will- 
ingly to do his appointed work. 


XCVIII. 



THE FOOT-WASHING BEFORE SUPPER. 

H taking his seat in the guest-chamber he was 
grieved to hear his disciples disputing, angrily it 
may be, which of them was the greatest. A puerile 
quarrel surely for men who were on the eve of wit- 
nessing the grandest, most terrible event of the ages. 


306 


Our King. 


Marvelous humility. 

No doubt it grew out of tlieir obstinate adherence to 
their old Jewish and carnal idea of the Messianic 
kingdom which they still obstinately believed their 
Master was about to set up, and in which they ex- 
pected to hold high rank. With his wonted condt 
scension, Jesus determined, by a significant act, to 
correct their false notions. It happened that no pro- 
vision had been made for washing their feet after 
their walk from Bethany. To their surprise their 
Lord removed his outer robe, took a towel and basin, 
and began to perform the menial task. They were 
all speechless in presence of this act of marvelous 
humility, until Peter hotly refused to have his feet 
touched. Jesus quickly subdued this outburst by 
saying, “If I wash thee not thou hast no part with 
me.” Peter then submitted. When they were all 
washed, our matchless Lord explained the meaning of 
his act. It was to teach them humility — a beautiful 
and practical illustration of their duty to seek great- 
ness, not in lording over but in serving one another. 



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» 





Jesus Unmasks his intended Betrayer. 309 


The paschal supper. 


XCIX. 

JESUS UNMASKS HIS INTENDED BETRAYER. 

S FTER the foot-washing our Lord took his place 
on the couch with his disciples to eat the festal 
supper. After partaking of the wine, the unleavened 
bread, and the bitter herbs which were eaten at the 
beginning of the feast, and when they were about to 
eat the roasted lamb, our Lord’s spirit became great- 
ly disturbed. His knowledge of the meditated treach- 
ery of Judas, grieved his pure and gentle soul. For 
the subsequent benefit of his faithful ones, he at length 
manifested his prescience by saying with solemn em- 
phasis, “ One of you shall betray me.” This startling 
announcement filled their simple souls with amaze- 
ment. In sorrowful and eager tones each one asked 
him, “Lord, is it I?” Even Judas himself seems to 
have had the hardihood to put this question, with the 
design, no doubt, of diverting suspicion from himself. 
Unwilling to expose the traitor to the rage of his com- 
panions, Jesus simply told them that his betrayer was 
he who should dip his hand with him into the dish 
of sauce, and then, with judicial solemnity, he pro- 
nounced a sentence of fearful and endless woe upon 
the guilty wretch. “ It had been good for that man,” 

he said, “ if he had never been born.” 

18 


310 


Our King. 


The whispered question. The hardened traitor. 

In the midst of the painful perplexity and confused 
conversation caused by these fearful words, Peter 
made signs to John, who sat on the right hand of 
Jesus ‘ ;f with his head close to his Master’s breast. 

John then asked in 
a whisper, “ Who 
is it, Lord?” Christ 
replied softly, no 
doubt, “He it is to 
whom I shall give 
a sop when I have 
dipped it.” And 
then, dipping a 
piece of unleav- 
ened bread into 
the dish of jelly or sauce, he handed it to Judas, who 
must have sat near him at the table. 

Whether Judas heard John’s question and Christ’s 
answer or not is uncertain. It may have been so, or 
there may have been something in his Lord’s expres- 
sion which led him to suspect that his vile intention 
was known. To assure himself on this point, the 
hardened man had the effrontery to look into his 
Lord’s face and ask in a low tone, no doubt, “ Master, 
is it I?” 

* -The guests leaned upon the left hand at the table, and were thus 
turned toward their neighbors on the right.” — L axgk. 



Jesus Unmasks his intended Betrayer. 


311 


The banished man. Prophetic words. 

The Lord replied affirmatively. “ Therewith,” 
says Lange, “it was all over with him. Up to that 
point his soul had still played with the counsel of hell. 
Now this counsel played with him.” He gave him- 
self fully up to do the work of Satan, and when Jesus, 
desiring to be rid of his hateful presence, bade him 
do quickly the accursed deed on which he was bent, 
“ he flew like a whirring arrow of the evil one to 
wound the heart of his Master to death — the heart of 
Jesus.” He went out into the gloom of night a ban- 
ished man, the “son of perdition.” 

Such was the painful confusion of the disciples that 
none of them understood the full meaning of their 
companion’s departure, but supposed it related to some 
of his duties as treasurer and caterer for the company. 


C. 


PETER’S COWARDICE FORETOLD BY JESUS. 


ELIEVED of the traitor’s presence, Jesus began 
speaking of his approaching death in language 
both tender and prophetic. But none of them could 
comprehend his meaning. That he could really die 
seemed impossible. At the most they could only 
snppose that he was about to pass through some great 
peril before manifesting the glory of his Messianic 



312 


Our King. 


A boastful declaration. Sacred symbols. 

kingdom. Hence Peter’s desire to know why he could 
not go with him in his trials, inasmuch as he was 
ready to lay down his life for his sake. 

This boastful declaration led our Lord to assure 
Peter that even on that very night, before the second 
crowing of the cock, he would so far falsify his own 
boast as to deny him three times. With equally sad 
foresight he also announced that all of them would 
forsake him that same night. Nevertheless, he would 
gather them again after his resurrection, and would 
pray for Peter that his faith might not wholly fail. 

These predictions of their cowardice seemed utterly 
impossible to the simple, untried minds composing 
that sadly perplexed band. The} 7 all joined Peter in 
his vehement declarations of undying fidelity. But 
their Lord knew them infinitely better than they 
knew themselves, as the event proved. 


CL 

JESUS INSTITUTES THE SACRAMENTAL SUPPER. 

FTER this scene Jesus proceeded to give his 
disciples bread and wine, which he appointed to 
be perpetual symbols of his body and Mood. After 
his resurrection they were to eat bread and drink 
wine in remembrance of his dying love, and as a sign 



Jesus Institutes the Sacramental Supper. 313 


Parting words. A midnight walk. 

that his blood was “shed for many for the remission 
of sins.” Simple memorials these, but they have 
served for ages, and are still serving, to visibly and 
openly set forth the sacrificial nature of his precious 
death. They are and ever will be to his followers 
the sweet remembrancers of his precious, his un- 
equaled love. 

After this impressive and loving ceremony our dear 
Lord discoursed in words both tender and sublime 
until a late hour of the night. (See John xiv, xv, xvi, 
xvii.) They were his parting words, words of wisdom, 
such as no mere man ever had spoken or could speak. 
Thus Jesus when about to yield up his humanity on 
the altar of death made it radiant with the glory of 
the divine wisdom which it enshrined. 


CII. 

THE MIDNIGHT AGONY IN GETHSEMANE. 

< 2 ^. 

;iTT was now nearly midnight, and Jesus, quitting 
the festal chamber, led his disciples out of the 
city. Descending the steep side of the temple mount, 
they crossed the muddy Cedron and turned aside 
from the road to Bethany into a garden named Geth- 
semaue, the precise site of which is now unknown. 


Our King. 


The mysterious agony. 

This retired spot had been his resort during his late 
labors in Jerusalem. He entered it on this eventful 
night partly because it was a requirement of the 
nassover rules to keep within the city or its environs, 
and partly because he knew that the hour of his great 
trial had come, and that his betrayer would meet him 
there. 

Scarcely had he passed the garden gate when a 
mysterious burden of exceeding sorrow weighed him 
down. Bidding Peter, James, and John watch on a 
spot apart from their companions, he retired into the 
deeper shadow of the trees, kneeled down, and suf- 
fered a great unfathomable agony. So intense was 
his mental suffering that the perspiration rolled from 
his face in big, heavy drops like blood. The nature 
and the precise causes of this strange, this amazing 
agony cannot be understood. Certainly it was not 
the fear of death. Ho doubt his human soul was un- 
der severe Satanic temptation to refuse the bitter cup 
of suffering death for the sins of universal humanity 
which he represented. It is reasonable to suppose, 
also, that in this lone hour his divine nature gave his 
human soul such an insight into the nature, demerits, 
and consequences of the human sins for which he, 
though innocent, was about to atone, as appalled and 
tilled it with sore amazement. Moreover, by some 
inconceivable process, it would seem that his human 


SH 

The garden. 


1 1(€ Midnight Agony in Gethsemane. 


315 

Victory. Sublime courage. 

soul was left to tread the fearful wine-press alone, the 
support of his divine nature being temporarily with- 
drawn from it. Further than this we dare not pre- 
sume to probe the mysteries of the fearful struggle, 
three times repeated, in that fatal garden. Let it 
satisfy us to know that our Lord came off victorious. 
The Prince of darkness was beaten off and fled when 
the trembling sufferer cried, “ O my Father, . . . thy 
will be done.” Then an angel tendered him that 
cheering sympathy, so strengthening to a soul in its 
hours of agony, which his sleeping disciples were too 
weary and too woe-smitten to offer. 

How sublimely great our Lord appears at the close 
of that unequaled strife with invisible, power and 
mental horror! With unshrinking courage he bade 
his companions rise and go with him to meet his be- 
trayer. In the gloom of the dim moonlight and the 
dark shadows of the olive-trees and the vines, he sure- 
ly might have escaped. But no. His hour was at 
hand. He went forth, with more than a warrior’s 
bravery, to meet the mockery, the pain, the cruel 
death, which he knew awaited him. 


316 


Our King. 


An armed multitude. 


A traitor s kiss. 


cm. 


THE BETRAYAL AND THE ARREST. 



CARCELY had he left the scene of his great 


agony when the quiet of the garden was dis- 
turbed by the approaching steps and voices of many 
armed men, bearing lanterns and torches. This for- 
midable band was guided by the base traitor, Judas. 
He had spent the hours, since parting with his Master 
at the supper table, in consultation with the chiefs of 
the Sanhedrin, and in organizing this great force for 
his Lord's arrest. Their fears lest the friends of Jesus 
should rise in his defense are apparent in the “ great 
multitude” of troops and officers employed to arrest 
him. Their torches, carried in the brightness of a 
full moon, were intended to aid in searching for him 
among the deep shadows of the rocks, caverns, grot- 
toes, and towers of the garden and vallejq if Jesus, 
should attempt to hide himself. But these grand prep- 
arations were superfluous. Their victim was ready 
to surrender himself. He even went forward to meet 


them. 


Then Judas had the unparalleled baseness to ap- 
proach his Lord, to say, “ Hail, Master! ” and to kiss 
him. This treacherous kiss was the sign he had 
chosen to give the arresting officers. Jesus calmly 


The Betrayal and the Arrest. 


317 


First pang of remorse. 


Terror-stricken soldiers. 



asked him, “Friend, wherefore art thou come?” 
And then, after a momentary glance of rebuke, he 
added : “ Judas, be- 
tray est thou the Son 
of man with a kiss? 1 ’ 

A question which 
fixed itself, like a 
barbed arrow, in the 
traitor’s heart, and 
filled it with the 
first pang of an un- 
dying remorse. 

The soldiers now 
knew their victim. There he stood, one unarmed, un- 
resisting man against hundreds of brutal soldiers. 
Nevertheless, such were the power and majesty of his 
person that, when he declared himself to be the per- 
son they had come to arrest, they recoiled and fell to 
the ground like men divinely stricken with terror. 
Thus in the moment of his capture did our Lord man- 
ifest his mighty power and show that his life was 
freely given . Had he been so minded, he could 
have smitten those paralyzed soldiers with the chill 


of death. 

But that was not his purpose. Hence he permitted 
them to recover their wonted courage ; and when 
Peter, seeing they were about to arrest his Lord, pas- 


318 


Our King. 


The wounded ear. The mansion of Annas. 

sionately drew his sword * and cut off a man's ear, 
Jesus restrained him, healed the wounded ear, assert- 
ed the voluntariness of his surrender, and permitted 
the soldiers to seize, bind, and lead him away to the 
palace of Annas, or Hananiah, father-in-law of Caia- 
phas the high-priest. 


CIV. 

PETER DENIES HIS AFFLICTED LORD. 

* EANWHILE, as Jesus had predicted at the 
supper-table, his disciples, terrified by fears of 
sharing his fate, had fled. Two of them, however, 
speedily recovering from the first impulse of terror, 
had turned about and were following the crowd at a 
safe distance. 

Annas had been ejected from the office of high- 
priest by the Romans and Caiaphas appointed to 
it in his stead. It is probable that these men both 
occupied the same mansion. It is known that Annas 
was the ruling spirit in the Sanhedrin, and to him the 

* Peter had understood our Lord’s figurative words, at the close of 
the paschal supper, about providing swords, in a literal sense. Jesus 
evidently meant nothing but “spiritual preparation,” as a defense 
against the bitter trial of faith which awaited them. Christ never re- 
quired men to use carnal weapons either for the propagation or de- 
fense of his truth. He conquers by the moral power of his cross. 
His followers must do the same. 


Peter Denies his Afflicted Lord. 


319 


Jesus before Annas. Peter's cowardice. 

prisoner was first taken for examination. He is 
spoken of as being still higli-priest for the reason, 
probably, that he was so in Jewish estimation, not- 
withstanding the Romans had given the office to his 
son-in-law. 

While this preliminary inquiry was proceeding, 
John, having acquaintances in the palace, secured ad- 
mission for himself and Peter. The latter, while 
warming himself before a 
fire in the open court of 

by a female servant, who 
eagerly charged him with 
being a disciple of the 
prisoner. The obvious 
danger of acknowledging 
this alleged fact seems to have filled Peter with such 
fear that he impulsively lied, denying most positively 
any acquaintance whatever with Jesus. Cowed by 
his sense of danger, he then retired to the archway 
leading from the court into the street. Just then the 
cock crew. But Peter, in the confusion caused by 
fear, heeded it not; and when, some time after, he 
returned to the fire shivering with cold and was again 
questioned by another maid, he repeated his denial 
with an oath. An hour later, when one of the high- 
priest’s servants asked him, “ Did I not see thee in the 


the palace was recognized 



Peter's penitence. 


A cowardly blow. 


garden with him ? ,J lie denied a third time, support- 
ing his denial with oaths and curses. Immediately 
the crowing. of the cock fell on his ears, and, at the 
same moment, as he looked across the court into the 
hall of justice, he caught the expressive glance from 
his Master’s eye. It was too much for him to endure. 
In an instant the magnitude of his offense stood out 
clearly before him. His conscience smote him ; his 
heart swelled well-nigh to bursting, and, stealing 
from the court into the street, he wept bitterly. He 
had sinned grievously. He now mourned deeply. 


CV. 

JESUS CONDEMNED BY THE SANHEDRIN. 

S NNAS appears to have questioned Jesus .con- 
cerning his doctrines, especially as to any tenets 
he might have taught his disciples secretly. (See John 
xviii, 19-23.) Our Lord merely denied having taught 
any thing in secret which he had not also taught 
openly. The people could tell the judge what his 
doctrines were. 

This refusal to expound his opinions appears to 
have been resented by an officer of Annas’s court, 
and he struck our Lord a cowardly blow on the mouth 
with the palm of his hand — a procedure which Jesus 
meekly resented. 








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The Great Sanhedrin 


Jesus Condemned by the Sanhedrin. 323 

Jesus before the Sanhedrin. Anger of the high-priest. 

Unable to make Jesus say any thing that could be 
perverted into a ground of legal accusation, Annas 
sent him bound to Caiaphas. This high official at 
once sent out messengers to summon the Sanhedrin, 
at least such of its members as could be relied on to 
condemn the fore-doomed victim. It was dawn be- 
fore they came together, and then the mock trial began. 

The legal -forms of the Jews required that two in- 
dependent witnesses should testify to every fact al- 
leged against a prisoner. On this sad occasion 
numerous things were said against Jesus, but in no 
case could two persons be found to corroborate each 
other. No act or word of sedition against the State, 
or of blasphemy against religion, could be proven. 
Evidently no case against the prisoner could be legally 
made out. They might indeed have accused him of 
violating their traditions respecting Sabbath and other 
ceremonial observances. But in doing so his pharisaic 
accusers might have roused the ire of the Sadducees, ' 
who despised their traditions, and thereby have raised 
up a party for Jesus in the Sanhedrin itself. It was 
obvious, therefore, that no conviction could be legally 
obtained. This obvious fact roused the anger of Caia- 
phas, and, rising from his seat, he looked on Jesus 
and exclaimed with vehement passion, “ Answerest 
thou nothing ? what is it which these witness against 
thee? ” 


324 


Our King. 


A disconcerted judge. Messiah rejected. 

There was nothing to be answered, and therefore, 
with manifest propriety, Jesus maintained a majestic 

silence. Caiaphas 
was disconcerted. 
The accused was 
greater than his 

cl* 

judge. But when 
some of the coun- 
cil asked him if he 
were Messiah, and 
the high-priest ad- 
jured him to tell 
whether he was 
Christ, the Son of God, he openly and unequivocally 
affirmed that he was. He knew that this confession 
would decide his fate. Nevertheless, he made it, and 
thereby stood before the chiefs of the Jewish Church 
claiming to be their long-expected Messiah. The hope 
of Israel was before them. They rejected him with 
passionate scorn. The high-priest rent his robe as a 
sign of his horror at the prisoner’s profanity,* and 
exclaimed, “Ye have heard his blasphemy. What 
think ye?” 

* A Jewish ordinance required that the high-priest should rend 
his clothes on hearing a blasphemy. He did this from the neck 
downward in some cases ; in others from the bottom to the top. In 
either case the rent was not to be sewn up again. 








I 



Mocking Jesus 






Jesus Condemned by the Sanhedrin. 


The cruel mockery. Jesus sentenced to death. 

“He is guilty of death ! 55 is the bitter response — 
the judicial sentence of the excited assembly. 

Then the temple guard, who surrounded Jesus, 
commenced a series of cruel insults and mockeries. 
Some spat in his meek face of matchless dignity. 
Others struck him heavy blows on the mouth. Still 
others, placing their hands before his eyes while their 
companions buffeted him, mockingly exclaimed, 
“ Prophesy unto ns, thou Christ, who is it that smote 
thee?” Jesus bore it all in meek silence. 


CV1. 

JESUS AT PILATE’S BAH. 

t HE Sanhedrin had pronounced sentence of death 
against Jesus, and at a fuller meeting at a later 
hour had confirmed it, (Matt, xxvii, 1 ; ) but could not 
execute it without the assent of the Roman Governor. 
Knowing that he would not confirm a sentence of 
death on a charge of mere blasphemy, which he 
neither understood nor cared for, the Sanhedrin de- 
cided to accuse Jesus of a political offense. They 
falsely alleged that he had spoken against paying 
tribute to Cesar, and that he had called himself a 
king. 


Pilate’s court. 


The contemptuous judge. 


Pontius Pilate, though usually residing at Oesarea, 
was in Jerusalem with his troops to keep the crowded 
city quiet during the passover. To him, therefore, 
they conducted Jesus, but whether in the palace or 
in the tower of Antonia is uncertain. As those hypo- 
crites of the Sanhedrin considered it a defilement to 
enter a heathen’s house on so sacred a day as that of 
the passover, Pilate so far humored their prejudices 
as to hear them on a platform in front of the palace, 
Jesus being kept meanwhile in the judgment hall 
within, in charge of the soldiers. 

The chief priests knowing they had no legal evi- 
dence to offer, seem to have desired Pilate to con- 
demn Jesus without a hearing. This his Roman 
sense of justice would not permit him to do. He 
evidently perceived at the first glance that Jesus was 
the innocent victim of their ecclesiastical hatred, and 
sternly required them to state their accusations. 

We can readily imagine a sneer on the lips of the 
proud chief as he listened, to those bitter enemies of 
Roman authority when they charged Jesus, as they 
then did, with sedition.. But notwithstanding his 
contempt for those false men, the serious nature of 
their complaint compelled him to try it, lest he 
should be charged with remissness before his impe- 
rial master at Rome. Hence we find that, after hear- 
ing the charge, he went into the hall of judgment 


Jesus at Pilate'S Bar. 


329 


An ambiguous question. An acquittal. 

•and said to the inoffensive Jesus, scornfully perhaps, 
“Art thou the king of the Jews?” 

To this inquiry it was impossible for Jesus to give 
a direct reply because of the ambiguity of the phrase, 
“ king of the Jew r s.” Had he said yes, Pilate, ac- 
cepting the words in their literal sense, would have 
adjudged him guilty of the complaint charged. Had 
he said no, he would have denied his spiritually royal 
character, and his purpose to found a spiritual king- 
dom. To escape this dilemma, he gave Pilate to 
understand that in a Roman or literal sense he was 
not a king; in a spiritual sense he was. His king- 
dom was not an earthly one, nevertheless he w r as a 
King, and the object of his reign w r as to persuade 
men to embrace the truth. 

Of course this sensuous Roman soldier could not 
comprehend the full meaning of our Lord’s words. 
They satisfied him, however, that though his prisoner 
might be a fanatic or an enthusiast, he cherished no re- 
bellious plans. His inquiry, What is truth ? suggests 
that, for the moment, he felt inclined to draw Jesus 
into some explanation of his doctrines. But, on a 
second thought, he suppressed this inclination, and 
going out to the platform where the Jews awaited 
his decision, he said : — 

“I find no fault in him at all.” 

This complete exoneration of their victim exasper- 
19 


330 


Our King. 


Fierce cries. Jesus at Herod’s bar. 

ated them. They reiterated their accusations so pas- 
sionately that Pilate felt compelled to question his 
patient prisoner again. But when he required Jesus 
to answer their allegations, our Lord maintained a 
silence so meek and majestic that his haughty judge 
was astonished, and once more went outside and 
openly declared, “I find no fault in this man.” 

Then with fierce cries the crowd of priests insisted 
that Jesus stirred the people to rebellion, not in Ju- 
dea only, but also in Galilee. 

The mention of Galilee suggested to the disquieted 
judge a wav out of the difficulty. He resolved to 
send his prisoner to Herod Antipas, who was Tetrarch 
in Galilee, and who was at that moment present in 
Jerusalem. Accordingly our Lord was led through 
the streets of Jerusalem to Herod’s palace, amid a 
troop of Roman soldiers, and followed by a crowd of 
angry priests, and by the rabble in their interest. 

Herod was much gratified by this act of political 
courtesy on the part of Pilate, with whom he had been 
at variance, and it led to the healing of the breach 
between them. He had for some time desired to 
see Jesus, who was so renowned in his dominions, 
partly that he might satisfy himself whether he was 
or was not John the Baptist risen from the dead, partly 
that he might see him do some great work. But our 
Lord stood silent before him. He would not gratify 


Jesus at Pilate's Bar. 


331 


The procurator perplexed. Claudia’s dream. 

the royal sensualist’s idle curiosity by uttering a single 
word. Herod seems to have regarded the charge of 
sedition with supreme contempt. Nevertheless, being 
vexed at his refusal to speak, he ordered Jesus to be 
clothed in a white robe, in mockery of his alleged 
kingly pretensions. After allowing his guard to pay 
him mock homage, he sent him back to Pilate. 

The unhappy procurator having re-assembled the 
enemies of our Lord, told them that since Herod con- 
curred with him respecting the prisoner’s innocence 
he should scourge him and set him free. At that 
moment the clamor of a multitude outside of the open 
court, demanding the customary release of some crim- 
inal on passover week, fell on Pilate’s ears, and sug- 
gested a way of escape from his embarrassment. He 
sent a messenger out to the rabble offering to release 
either Barabbas, a robber and murderer, or Jesus, as 
they should choose. 

While waiting for their reply his perplexity was 
greatly increased by an earnest message from his wife, 
Claudia. (?) She had had a painful dream about 
Jesus that morning, and begged her husband not to 
stain his hands with the blood of that “just man.” 

While he was musing on this singular warning his 
messenger returned with a report from the multi- 
tude without. Influenced by emissaries of the priests, 
they had demanded the pardon of the notoriously 


332 


Our King. 


The unjust sentence. The scourging. 

wicked Barabbas. Pilate then formally submitted the 
question, “ Shall I release Barabbas or Jesus ? ” The 
voices of the crowd loudly, passionately responded, 
Barabbas ! 

“ What then shall I do with Jesus?” asked Pilate. 

“ Crucify him ! crucify him ! ” thundered the voice 
of the crowd. 

Pilate again pleaded the innocence of our Lord and 
Saviour, but his voice was drowned in the fierce cries 
of u Crucify him ! crucify him ! ” 

The Roman judge, too cowardly to provoke an evi- 
dent tumult in defense of justice, and yet too pro- 
foundly impressed with a mysterious sense of his 
responsibility to readily give our Lord into the hands 
of liis enemies, then resorted to a singular means of 
quieting his conscience. Calling for a basin of water, 
he publicly washed his hands and declared himself 
innocent of the blood of the “just person” at his bar. 
With fierce cries, the priests assumed the dread re- 
sponsibility for themselves and their children. And 
then the unjust judge reluctantly pronounced sentence 
of release for Barabbas and of crucifixion upon Jesus. 

Then the Roman guard led Jesus into a military 
hall or guard-room, and, summoning their comrades in 
the cohort, began to inflict upon their victim the 
usual scourging preliminary to crucifixion. The lie- 
tors applied the twisted thongs of the scourge until 


Jesus at Pilate's Bar . 


333 


Cruel indignities. Pilate's last effort 

liis back was lacerated and bleeding. The soldiers 
then put a purple robe upon him, placed a crown 
upon his brow, made of the branches of a thorn armed 
with sharp spines, and put a reed in his hand for a 
scepter. With brutal mockery they bowed before 
him, cried, “ Hail, king of the Jews ! ” spat in his face, 
snatched the reed from his hand, and struck him on 
the head. They also smote him with their hands, and, 
in short, heaped upon him every indignity their cruel, 
brutal ingenuity could suggest. 

While the Jews feasted their malignant eyes on 
these sufferings of Jesus, Pilate, affected possibly by 
his dignified meekness, resolved to make one more 
effort in his behalf. Causing the bleeding victim to 
be led out into the open court, still attired in the 
purple robe and crown of thorns, he cried, as if to 
awaken their slumbering pity, “ Behold the man ! ” 
But those bad men knew no pity. “ Crucify him ! 
crucify him ! ” they cried fiercely. Pilate told them 
that must be their act, for he held Jesus to be an in- 
nocent man. They then declared the justice of their 
demand, asserting that he was a blasphemer because he 
had declared himself to be the Son of God. This 
statement only increased Pilate’s fear. It roused his 
superstitious feelings. Taking Jesus once more into 
the hall of judgment, he questioned him respecting 
his origin. Jesus was silent. Pilate, being offended, 


334 


Our King. 


A grand reply. Triumphant malice. 

asked him if* lie knew that he had power to spare or 
to crucify him. Then, with the calm majesty of con- 
scious power, Jesus told him that but for Divine per- 
mission he could not harm him; and sinful as he 
might be, if he put him to death, those who had be- 
trayed and brought him to his bar were still greater 
sinners. This grand reply, which implied pity for 
the embarrassed judge, and the still grander bearing 
of our Lord, led Pilate to try one more plea with the 
infuriated priests. But they, dreading lest, after all, 
their victim should escape, replied, “ If thou let this 
man go thou art not Cesar’s friend.” 

This implication of his loyalty begot visions of pos- 
sible impeachment at the imperial tribunal in Pilate’s 
mind. It touched his self-interest, and extinguished 
his disposition to be just in spite of priestly clamor. 
He again ordered Jesus to be brought into the 
open court and exclaimed sneeringly, “ Behold your 
king ! ” Fierce cries of crucify him echoed round the 
court. “Shall I crucify your king?” responded 
Pilate bitterly. “We have no king but Cesar,” 
shouted they with lying vehemence. But they had 
conquered. Jesus was given into the hands of the 
soldiers and led forth to the scene of his crucifixion, 
it being then about nine o'clock in the morning. 


The Fearful End of Judas. 


335 


Remorseful agony of Judas. 


The traitors awful death. 


evil. 


THE FEARFUL END OF JUDAS. 



U RING this scene, which has no parallel in 
history, the traitor Judas had been suffering 
the fiercest pangs of remorse. As is usual, his sin as 
sumed a new aspect after its commission from that 
which it had previously worn. His anger, his covet- 
ousness, his discontent, and, in short, all his selfish 
feelings, were drowned in the floods of remorse which 
swept over his spirit when he saw his Master in the 
hands of his enemies. The price of his guilt now 
burned his guilty hands. Rushing into the Temple 
he affirmed the innocency of his Master, and cast the 
price of blood into one of the treasury -chests. The 
priests only sneered at his late remorse, but took the 
money and bought a burial-place for strangers, be- 
cause, forsooth, their hypocritical souls scrupled to use 
blood-money in the service of their temple. But the 
unhappy Judas, goaded by the stings of his awakened 
conscience, sought some gloomy spot, now unknown, 
where he hung himself. Either the rope or the 
branch to which it was attached, broke beneath the 
traitor’s weight and struggles. His body in falling 
rolled over a precipice into a field below and was fear- 
fully broken. A sad end, indeed, especially for one 
who had been so long the companion of the Redeemer. 


336 


Our King. 


On the way to Golgotha. 


And jet his agony was bnt begun at bis death, for 
did not the Master say, “It had been good for that 
man if he had never been born ? ” Surely these words 
could not be true if after a few hours’ remorse Judas 
had been introduced to the joys of eternal life. 


CVIII. 


SCENES AT THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS. 



HE doom of Jesus being finally pronounced, he 


was given into the hands of a centurion to be 


executed. The robe of purple was then taken from 
his person. Clothed in his own plain garments, he 
was led forth into the streets of Jerusalem, bearing 
on his shoulder the cross upon which he was to be 
put to death. This cross was not so heavy as to be 
an intolerable burden to a strong man in full health 
and vigor. But Jesus, owing to the excitements of 
the previous twelve hours, and the exhaustion conse- 
quent upon his agony in the garden and his severe 
scourging, was unable to carry it beyond the gate of 
the city. Whether he fell or tainted we know not ; 
but, seeing his inability to proceed with it, the cen- 
turion impressed a stranger from Africa, named 
Simon, who was approaching the city, and compelled 


Scenes at the Crucifixion of Jesus. 


00*7 


Sympathetic women. 


him to carry it to Golgotha, an open spot on an emi- 
nence commonly used for public executions. 

A vast multitude followed our Lord and his escort. 
Among them was a company of women, who, tilled 



with sympathy for the pale, exhausted victim of 
priestly vengeance, rent the air with their sorrowful 
wailings. Their piteous lamentations caused Jesus 



338 


Our King. 


The cross. The crucifixion. 

to turn toward them, and to bid them weep, not for 
him, but for themselves and their children, in view 
of the Divine vengeance which was soon to fall upon 
their beautiful city because of its obstinate impeni- 
tence. Thus once more did the grandeur of the God 
shine through the sorrows of the man ! 

At about nine o’clock in the morning our blessed 
Lord was nailed to the cross. This instrument of 
torture consisted of an upright post, only high enough 
whe'n set in the earth to keep the victim’s feet from 
touching the ground. Near its top was a transverse 
beam, to which the hands were nailed. Another bar 
projected from its middle upon which the weight of 
the sufferer’s body rested, instead of being wholly sus- 
pended from the spikes driven through the hands. 

According to custom, the soldiers offered Jesus a 
narcotic drink to benumb his sensibilities. He would 
not drink it. It was his choice to suffer in the full 
possession of his faculties. Then followed the torture 
of the cross. First, they seated his sacred form on the 
projecting peg. Next, they bound his arms to the 
cross-beam. Then followed the driving of the spikes 
through his hands and feet. “ But although even his 
holy, tender life trembled before the torture of the 
cross, as the lily quakes in the tempest, yet he suf- 
fered patiently in the great calm purity of his spirit, 
while the rude hands laid hold of him, stripped him, 


Scenes at the Crucifixion of Jesus. 


339 


The inscription. The protesting priests. 

drew him up, and nailed him on the cross.” Two 
robbers were then crucified beside him, 44 one on his 
right hand, and the other on his left.” Even in those 
moments of bitter pain he forgot himself, and, look- 
ing only on the guilt of his enemies, pitied them and 
cried, 44 Father, forgive them ; for they know not what 
they do.” Such was the grandeur of his magnani- 
mous love. 

It was the practice of the Romans to affix a tablet 
on the top of the cross, on which the crime of the 
crucified person was written. Such a tablet was now 
placed over the head of Jesus. On it was written, in 
three languages, Latin, Hebrew, and Greek, this in- 
scription : 44 Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.” 
Pilate appears to have written it by way of mortify- 
ing the pride of the Jewish hierarchy, which had 
compelled him to crucify our Lord. Its appearance 
did indeed produce a great excitement among the 
chief priests and their satellites. They rushed from 
the scene of the crucifixion, demanded an audience 
of Pilate, strongly protested, and asked that he should 
make it read, 44 not the King of the Jews; but that 
he said, I am King of the Jews.” 

Pilate was no longer the supple judge, but the 
haughty representative of arbitrary power. 44 What 
I have written I have written,” was his stern re- 
sponse. In return for their pertinacity he had 


340 


Our King. 


The divided garments. The mocking multitude. 

intended to humiliate their pride, both by the inscrip- 
tion, and by ordering the crucifixion of two malefac- 
tors with Jesus on their most sacred day. And he 
had done it. He made the crucifixion of Christ as- 
sume a form whereby it would become a disgrace to 
the Jewish nation. 

While the priests were on their bootless errand, the 
four soldiers who had crucified him busied themselves 
dividing our Lord’s poor garments, “ which, by Homan 
right, fell to their lot.” The outer garment, being 
sewed together, they ripped into four equal parts ; but 
for the under garment or tunic, which, being worked 
in one piece without a seam, and therefore indivisible, 
they drew lots. Those rude men little imagined that 
this gambling game so coolly played in the presence 
of a suffering destined to shake the world, was the 
fulfillment of a marvelous prediction made ages be- 
fore, which said, “ They parted my raiment among 
them, and for my vesture they did cast lots ! ” 

It appears that the chief priests, exasperated by 
Pilate’s refusal to alter the offensive inscription, re- 
turned to the scene of suffering, and excited the mul- 
titude to mock and revile their victim. They were 
only too successful. Following their lead, the people 
wagged their heads at the sufferer, and cast his own 
words at him derisively. They mocked his claims to 
divine Sonship, and challenged him to prove them by 


Scenes at the Crucifixion of Jesus. 


241 


The penitent robber. The beloved disciple's charge. 

coming down from the cross. Moved by the bad 
spirit of the mob, the soldiers presently took up the 
mocking taunts, and even the malefactors from their 
crosses muttered insulting words in his ears. 

But even while on the cross Jesus achieved a vic- 
tory over one hard heart. One of the thieves, after 
reviling him, seems to have been suddenly impressed 
by the patient dignity of our Lord, or by some ray 
of pitying love which glanced from his eye : what- 
ever the cause, his heart melted. He offered a peni- 
tential prayer, the offspring of a faith clear enough 
to see the divine Messiah in the agonized sufferer at 
his side, and strong enough to trust him for salvation. 
With a love exclusively his own, our Lord, exercising 
his divine prerogative, instantly forgave him, and 
promised him a place in Paradise. What unparalleled 
love! What a wonderful blending of humanity in 
the extremity of its weakness with the moral dignity 
of Supreme divinity ! 

At about the same time Jesus noticed his mother, 
with a group of female friends, standing near his 
cross. At a distance he also saw large numbers of 
women who had ministered to his wants. John, his 
best beloved disciple, was near his mother. Then in 
that moment of supreme agony he forgot himself, and 
with the thoughtfulness of filial affection, confided 
his widowed mother to the beloved disciple’s care. 


342 


Our King. 


The mysterious agony. The dying cry. 

At noon, after three hours of mortal agony had 
been endured by our adorable Lord, nature began to 
bear testimony to his dignity, and to show her horror 
of the deed. The sun became mysteriously dark, and 
remained so for three hours. During that supernatu- 
ral darkness the mental agony of Gethsemane again 
overwhelmed our Lord. As the substitute for a 
world of sinners, he once more looked into the fath- 
omless depths of human guilt and human demerit, 
until his human soul was tilled with the horror of that 
separation from God which constitutes the hell of lost 
souls. Still an inscrutable mystery vails both the 
nature and depth of his sufferings in that awful mo- 
ment, which wrung from him the fearful cry, “ My 
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” With 
this cry the crisis of his mental suffering passed, and 
while the terrified spectators pondered on the mean- 
ing of his words, his sense of physical pain was 
renewed. “ I thirst ! ” he cried. A soldier applied a 
sponge dipped in some wine to his lips. “ It is fin- 
ished 1 ” he exclaimed, and then, summoning his re- 
maining strength, he cried in a loud voice: — 

“ Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” 

With these words he bowed his head and died. 
With the departure of his sinless soul nature again 
littered her voice. The earth trembled. The rocks 
rent. The graves opened and many bodies arose. 


Scenes at the Crucifixion of Jesus. 


343 


The convicted multitude. 


A prophecy fulfilled. 


The vail of the Temple was rent in twain from top 
to bottom. The multitude of spectators were spell- 
bound with terror. They smote their breasts, and 
while the heathen centurion exclaimed, “Certainly 
this was a righteous man,” the conscience-stricken 
Jews confessed, “ Truly this was the Son of God!” 


CIX. 


OUR LORD’S BURIAL. 



JEWISH law which was respected by the Ro- 


mans in Palestine, required that the bodies of 


executed persons should be buried before sunset, 
lienee when, toward evening, men came to examine 
the body of Jesus, to their great surprise they found 
him dead. To assure themselves that he was not in 
a swoon resembling death, one of them pierced his 
side with a spear. This would have sufficed to kill 
him had he been still alive. But the flow of blood 
mingled with water proved beyond question that he 
was surely dead. The two thieves not having ex- 
pired, had their death hastened by the breaking of 
their legs either with a mallet or a bar of iron. Thus 
it came to pass that, according to prophecy, not a bone 
of the body of our Jesus was broken. Yet he was 
so wounded with the spear as to fulfill the words : 


344 


Our King. 


The body entombed. The uneasy priests. 

“They shall look upon me whom they have pierced 
and they shall mourn.” 

The body of Jesus was honorably interred that same 
afternoon by a wealthy Jew named Joseph, who had 
secretly loved him while living. He placed the sa- 
cred form in a new tomb built in the garden of his 
surburban residence near Golgotha. But before giv- 
ing this man possession of the body, Pilate was care- 
ful to assure himself that Jesus was really dead. 
Nicodemus, one of our Lord’s earliest friends in Jeru- 
salem, provided a princely supply of spices for his 
burial. The devoted women who had remained by 
our Lord to the end marked the place of his entomb- 
ment, and then hasted home to prepare additional 
means for embalming his loved remains after the Sab- 
bath should have passed. They had not the remotest 
idea that on their return he would be alive, to die no 
more. 

But the chiefs of the Jewish hierarchy were ill at 
ease. Their victim was surely dead, but their fears 
were still alive. They knew that Jesus had predicted 
his own resurrection, and they trembled before the 
possibility of such an event. Pretending that they 
thought his disciples might steal his body, and thereby 
make it appear that he had actually risen, they ob- 
tained Pilate’s permission on Saturday morning to 
station the Roman guard as a watch at his tomb. 


Burial of Jesus. 










Our Lord's Burial. 


347 


Tise triumph over death. The quaking soldiers. 

They also attached strings and seals to the stone which 
closed the tomb, so that it coujd not be moved and 
replaced without the fact being known. 


CX. 


JESUS RISEN FROM THE DEAD. 


HE Sabbath passed. The dawn of Sunday was 
approaching when, lo! an earthquake shook the 
ground. An angel, whose face was like lightning, and 
his raiment white as snow, descended from heaven, 
rolled back the sealed stone from the sepulcher and 
sat upon it. At the same moment our Lord threw 
off the chains of death within the tomb, and reani- 
mated his crucified body, Ho eye beheld that mys- 
terious act of infinite power. That it was done was 
speedily proven by the unquestionable appearance 
of our risen Lord to his disheartened friends and 



followers. 

The soldiers who guarded the tomb, terrified both 

by the earthquake and the angel’s dazzling spleudor, 

“did shake, and became as dead men.” As soon as 

they recovered their presence of mind, they fled into 

the city to report these marvelous facts to their 

superiors. 

20 


348 


Our King. 



The faithful women. 


The alarm of Mary. 


Meanwhile Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother 
of James, Salome, and other ladies who had come 
from Galilee, animated by their great and pure love, 
were hastening at early dawn to embalm the Lord’s 


body. As they neared the sepulcher, they thought 
of the large stone which was at its mouth, and ques- 
tioned each other as to its removal. But when they 
came close to it, they were amazed on seeing that it 
was rolled away. Mary Magdalene’s quick, ardent 
mind instantly concluded that her Lord’s body had 
been stolen. Without stopping to make inquiry, she 
turned round and hastened on the wings of alarmed 


Jesus Risen from the Dead. 


349 


The angelic witnesses. The greeting of Jesus. 

affection to communicate her suspicions to Peter and 
John. 

But her less impulsive companions entered the 
tomb. The body was not there. Returning toward 
its entrance, they stood talking over the question of its 
disappearance in great perplexity of mind. Presently 
they saw* tw r o angelic forms in long white garments, 
standing on their right. Then their perplexity grew 
into terror. They bowed their faces to the earth in 
speechless fear. But one of the angels quickly 
soothed their fears with gentle w r ords, assuring them 
that Jesus had risen from the dead, according to the 
prediction wdiich they had heard from his own lips. 
Cheered by these assuring words, the women partially 
recovered their self-possession. Then the angel bade 
them go and tell his disciples, Peter especially, the 
glorious news that Jesus would meet them in Galilee. 


CXI. 

JESUS SEEN BY SEVERAL WOMEN. 

f TILL trembling with joyous wonder, not un- 
mingled with fear, those good women left the 
sepulcher, too full of feeling to utter a word. As 
they walked along the garden path Jesus himself met 
and greeted them, saying, “All hail!” Scarcely 


350 


Our King. 


The unbelieving disciples. A false story. 

knowing wliat they did, they fell down, grasped his 
feet, as if to make sure that he was really their living 
Lord, and worshiped him. Jesus calmed their fears 
with kindly words, repeated the message given them 
by the angel, and left them. The women quickly 
sought out the eleven disciples and told their mar- 
velous story. But those disheartened men had seem- 
ingly lost all hope and faith, for they regarded the 
words of those elect ladies as “ idle tales.” 

Meanwhile, the soldiers had mustered courage to 
make their report of the morning’s marvels. Tiie 
Sanhedrin was hastily summoned. The event they 
dreaded and had vainly hoped to prevent had oc- 
curred. The testimony of their own guards convinced 
them that a great miracle had been wrought at the 
tomb of Jesus. The crucified One had risen indeed. 
Their omission to order an investigation proves their 
conviction of this mighty fact, as does also the flimsy 
subterfuge to which they resorted. They bribed the 
soldiers to spread the transparent lie, that the disci- 
ples had stolen the dead body while they slept. Their 
largess and their pledge to protect the soldiers from 
the military penalty of death for sleeping, as they 
were to pretend they did while on guard, proved suf- 
ficient for the subornation of the unscrupulous guard. 
The false story found currency among the people. 
Nevertheless, those bad men were destined to feel 







Jesus seen by several Women. 


353 


John and Peter at the tomb. Mary and the angels. 

that the Jesus whom they had crucified was still a 
living, conquering power. 

The earnest statement of Mary Magdalene to Peter 
and John caused them to hurry to the sepulcher. She 
followed them, but with slower steps. John, either 
because his step was more elastic or his love stron- 
ger than Peter’s, arrived first at the tomb. He did 
not venture within that scene of wonder ; but stoop- 
ing he looked in, and seeing the grave-clothes lying, 
not in the disorder to be expected in a tomb rifled of 
its occupant, but disposed in smooth, orderly fashion, 
he opened his heart to the mighty fact that Jesus had 
risen. When Peter came up his bolder nature led 
him to enter the interior, whither John then followed 
him. Together they gazed for awhile on the cast- 
off but nicely folded grave-clothes of the Master of 
Life, and then returned to the city with wondering 
minds and burning hearts. 


CXII. 

JESUS SEEN BY MARY OF MAGDALA. 

ARY MAGDALENE, crushed by her belief 
that the body of her Lord had been taken 
away by unknown, perhaps unfriendly, hands, re- 
mained before the sepulcher to indulge her grief. 
Stooping at length to look into the depth of the tomb, 



354 


Our King. 


Mary’s joy. Mary’s commission. 

she beheld two angels clothed in white sitting within. 
u Why weepest thou ? ” one of them inquired. She 
told them. Then turning round she saw some one 
standing near her. He also asked her the cause of 
her violent weeping. Supposing, either from his 
dress or from his being in the garden, that he was the 
gardener, she sobbingly replied : — 

“Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where 
thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.” 

To these utterances of a wounded spirit Jesus re- 
sponded by saying, “ Mary ! ” It was enough. The 
well-remembered voice thrilled her heart with more 
than electric fire. Then she clearly recognized her 
Lord, and exclaiming, “ My dearest Master!” fell to 
the ground and clasped his feet with an earnestness 
which said, “How I have found my Lord, and shall 
never lose sight of him again.” 

This thought Jesus meant to rebuke when he bade 
her withdraw her clinging hold upon his feet. True, 
he was risen. He was visible. But his human 
form was not to remain long on earth, as she evi- 
dently supposed it would. He must soon ascend to 
his Father, to begin his spiritual reign. This great 
truth of his coming ascension he bade her go and make 
known to his “ brethren.” 

Mary’s love, now chastened with revering awe, was 
satisfied, and, with a glad heart, she went to the dis- 


Jesus seen by Mary of Macjdala. 


355 


The roadside conversation. The glad surprise. 

eiples, proclaiming their Lord’s resurrection and de- 
livering his message. But they in the stubbornness 
of their great sorrow would not believe that she had 
really seen Jesus. 


CXIII. 

JESUS WALKS TO EMMAUS WITH TWO DISCIPLES. 

S N the afternoon of that greatest of days, two of 
Christ’s disciples had occasion to walk to Emmaus, 
a village six or seven miles fiorth of Jerusalem. Who 
they were we know not, except that one was named 
Cleopas. But their talk was of Jesus, who presently 
joined them in their walk and entered into their con- 
versation. His words shed wonderful light on their 
perplexed minds as he opened the Scriptures and 
showed that the Christ for whom they mourned was 
indeed the Christ of the Scriptures. Their hearts 
burned while he spoke. Still, their eyes being super- 
naturally holden, did not recognize him, until he sat 
at table with them in Emmaus. Then, as he was 
blessing and breaking the bread, the vail was sudden- 
ly removed. Possibly, as some suppose, they saw the 
prints of the nails in his hands. Be this as it may, it 
is certain that they knew him, but before they could 
give expression to their unspeakable joy he was gone. 


356 


Our King. 


Our Lord meets a company of disciples. 

Filled with the transports of new-born joy, these 
disciples retraced their steps to Jerusalem. Entering 
a room where ten of the eleven apostles were as- 
sembled with other friends, they were met with the 
exclamation : — 

“ The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to 
Simon” 


CXIV. 

JESUS SEEN BY TEN OF THE APOSTLES. 

PON this they told their own wonderful story, 
but without convincing all, so stubborn was the 
unbelief of some. But while the discussion upon the 
testimony of the several witnesses of Christ’s resurrec- 
tion was still going on, Jesus suddenly entered the 
room unperceived and saluted them, saying; — 
‘"Peace be unto you !” 

The suddenness of his appearance after the excit- 
ing events of the day filled them with fright. They 
imagined that a spirit stood before them. Jesus, after 
rebuking their fear, showed them his wounded hands 
and feet, invited them to handle his flesh and bones, 
and finally, as if to remove their last lingering doubt, 
ate some broiled fish and some honey-comb. After 
these acts, impossible except to a living personage, 
he discoursed to them respecting himself and their 



357 


Jesus seen by Ten of tlie Apostles . 

Instruction and conviction of the disciples. 

duties. He unfolded to them the terms of tlieir great 
commission, promised them a great endowment of 
power from on high, and, as a preparation for greater 
things to come, breathed on them and said, “ Receive 
ye the Holy Ghost ! ” (See Luke xxiv, 36-49, and 
John xx, 19-23.) 

This appearance was conclusive with all present. 
Mary Magdalene and the other women had seen him. 
So had Peter, though where is not stated, (1 Cor. 
xv, 5.) Cleopas and his friend had walked, talked, 
and eaten with him. And now a whole company had 
seen him, handled his person, eaten with him, listened 
to his words, and felt his blessing in their hearts. 
And all this on one day. There could be no mistake, 
deception, or delusion. Their conviction was not an 
illusion of the imagination, but had been forced upon 
them, in spite of their very stubborn unbelief, by the 
indisputable evidence of their senses. They could 
not avoid the joyful conclusion, “ The Lord is risen 
indeed.” 


35S 


Our King. 


The doubting apostle convinced. 


cxv. 

THOMAS AND THE OTHER APOSTLES SEE JESUS. 

/'-as-* 

» UT further proofs of this stupendous fact awaited 
them. Thomas, one of the eleven, was not pres- 
ent at the above-named gathering. He had chosen 
to indulge his grief in solitude. When told that 
Jesus had shown himself to his associates, his heart 
clung to its great sorrow with rugged resolution. Re- 
fusing to accept their testimony, he declared that 
nothing could convince him of his Lord’s resurrection 
but seeing and putting his finger into the print of 
the nails in his hands and thrusting his hands into 
his wounded side. 

Notwithstanding this strong declaration of unbelief, 
Thomas, moved by a secret faith he would not openly 
confess, joined his brethren the succeeding Sun- 
day at their meeting-place in Jerusalem. Again 
Jesus entered the chamber unperceived until he was 
“ in the midst.” Again did his gentle greeting, 
“Peace be unto you!” gladden their spirits. Before 
any one found opportunity to speak, our Lord turned 
toward the wondering Thomas and bade him make 
that examination of his wounded person which he 
had demanded. 

Thomas was both confused and convinced. His 
eyes assured him that Jesus lived. Hearing his own 


Jesus seen by Thomas and Others. 


359 


A grand confession. The best iliith. 

words repeated, and the conditions on which he would 
believe accepted, he was overwhelmed with a sense 
of shame, and satisfied that his restored Lord was the 
All-knowing One. Being an honest man, he freely 
yielded to evidence he could no longer gainsay, 
and passing instantly from the extreme of resolute 
unbelief to the fullness of a childlike faith, he lovingly, 
tremblingly exclaimed : — 

“ My Lord and my r God ! ” 

To this grand confession of the disciple’s faith in 
his rise'n Lord’s divinity, Jesus tenderly but chidingly 
replied, “Thomas, because thou hast -seen me, thou 
hast believed : blessed are they that have not seen, 
and yet have believed.” 

Thomas, through his Lord's condescending love, 
had gained a blessing upon a tardy faith which rested 
on evidence tangible to the senses ; but they whose 
faith springs from the truth enshrined in loving 
hearts — a “ faith that worketh by love”— are and al- 
ways shall be still more highly blessed. 


360 


Our King. 


Jesus in Galilee. 


A fishing scene. 


CXVI. 

JESUS TAKES BREAKFAST WITH SEVEN APOSTLES. 

J2)EFORE his death Jesus had promised to meet 
his disciples in Galilee subsequently to his res- 
urrection. After rising he bade them go to that scene 
of his former labors. Accordingly, after the second 
Sunday meeting, just described, the disciples left Jeru- 
salem and returned to Galilee. There some of them 
at once resorted to their old pursuit of fishing in its 
beautiful lake. Seven of them went together in one 
boat, but spent a whole night without catching a sin- 
gle fish. In the morning a seeming stranger hailed 
them from the adjacent beach, where he stood, just 
perceptible through the gray mist. After learning 
their ill-success, this mysterious man bade them cast 
their net over the opposite side of the vessel. They 
obeyed, thinking, perhaps, of a similar event in the 
past. Scarcely had they cast their net before it was 
so filled with fishes as to defy the attempts of 
the whole seven to draw it in. The obviousness of 
this miracle led John to exclaim to Peter, “It is the 
Lord ! ” Peter’s old impulsiveness moved him to 
leap overboard and swim the three hundred and fifty 
feet or so between him and his Lord, while his less ar- 
dent companions rowed the boat ashore, dragging the 
loaded net after it. 


Jesus takes Breakfast with Seven Apostles. 361 


The lakeside breakfast. Peter’s restoration. 

To their surprise they found a “fire of coals there, 
and fish laid thereon and bread.” Whence came this 
fire? Had Jesus kindled it? We do not know. In 
some way, either by miracle or by ordinary means, 
he had provided it as a token of his care for their 
temporal needs. He next bade them bring up the 
fish just caught. Peter led them to this task, and 
they found one hundred and fifty- three great fishes, 
with not a mesh of the net broken — a fact too mar- 
velous to be accounted for except by the miraculous 
character of the entire proceeding. 

After they had cooked some of the fish our Lord 
bade them eat. They did so, Jesus presiding over 
the meal, like a father in the midst of his household. 
They were glad but silent, for while they all recog- 
nized their beloved Master, there was a serene dignity 
in his manner which held them back from their old 
familiarity of speech. 

It was at this third meeting with the circle of his 
disciples after he was risen from the dead that our 
Lord asked Peter the u touching and thrice-repeated 
question, Lovest thou me?” and gave him assurance 
of pardon for his three base denials by a threefold 
charge to feed his lambs and sheep. (See John 
xxi, 15-23.) 

The tenderness of Jesus in thus restoring Peter to 
his apostolic office must have been very comforting to 


362 


Our King. 


A grand gathering. 


The great commission. 


that good man’s heart. It should still be an encour- 
agement to every wanderer from Christ to return 
without fear of being repelled. 


CXVII. 

JESUS MEETS FIVE HUNDRED OF HIS DISCIPLES. 



HORTLY after this interesting occurrence Jesus 

O 


met his disciples, by appointment, on some 
mountain, whether Tabor, as some think, or some 
eminence near Capernaum, is unknown. It was a 
grand gathering of his adherents, numbering no less 
than five hundred souls. These were persons who 
had known him most familiarly during his ministry — 
persons so long accustomed to his voice, his manner, 
his appearance, and his method of teaching, that they 
could not be mistaken as to his identity. So assured 
were nearly all present on this point that they wor- 
shiped him, nothing doubting the Divine character of 
a Being whose resurrection proved that he held the 
keys of death in his hands. In him they beheld the 
Lord of the universe, and they listened with reverent 
awe while he bade them go to all nations with the 
good news of salvation, and promised to be with them 
and their successors in the faith even unto the end of 
the world. 







Jesus Ascends into Heaven. 


365 


Undescribed appearances of Jesus. 

CXVIII. 

JESUS ASCENDS INTO HEAVEN. 

S HERE were still other appearance? of our Lord 
mentioned, but not fully described, in Holy 
Writ during the forty days between his resurrection 
and ascension. Among these was one to James, 
another to all the apostles, (see 1 Cor. xv, 7,) and 



probably more not described, but yet alluded to by 
Luke. (Acts i, 2, 3.) At the expiration of forty days 
lie met the eleven at a parting interview in Jerusalem. 


Our King. 


SCO 

The ascension. Angelic testimony. 

Here lie bade them remain until they should be bap- 
tized with the Holy Ghost, as he assured them they 
should be in a few days. He then led them out of 
the city’, along the well-known path up the Mount of 
Olives. When on the outskirts of Bethany he paused, 
lifted up his hands, and blessed them. While in that 
act he was suddenly parted from them, and borne, as 
by invisible forces, toward the heavens. With solemn 
awe they watched his ascending form until a cloud 
hid him from their view. Still they gazed with stead- 
fast eyes, as if in rapt adoration of their now invisible 
Lord. Presently “ two men in shining apparel” — 
angels, doubtless — stood beside them. One of these 
celestial visitors spoke and said : — 

“ Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into 
heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you 
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have 
seen him go into heaven.” 

Thus, as angels declared to the shepherds at Beth- 
lehem the Divine character of Jesus when he came 
into the world, so angels proclaimed to his eleven dis- 
ciples on the Mount of Olives, that when he went out 
of the world he was “taken up into heaven,” where, 
as stated by Mark, he “ sat on the right hand of God.” 

“ As his last step on earth was upon that mount 
which had witnessed his agonies in the garden, so 
even beyond the clouds did he bear us, our sorrows, 


Jesus Ascends into Heaven. 


367 


The invitation from the throne, 

and their remedy. The very imprint of suffering 
upon hand and side is still visible to all heaven, and 
bids many an astonished angel say aloud, (as the 
Jews of old,) 4 Behold how he loved them !’ ” * And 
from his heavenly throne our glorified sufferer, our 
eternal Lord and King, is ever saying to the reader 
personally, as to the world generally : — 

“ Come unto me, all ye that labor and are 

HEAVY LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST.” 

* Archer Butler, quoted by Lunge. 

21 


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